A stealth referendum question about vouchers may be on your ballot on March 17th! Here's what to know:

Illinois law enables voters or lawmakers to add up to three non-binding questions (per political subdivision, e.g. county) on election ballots to be voted for or against. These are also known as advisory referenda or ballot measures. 

On March 17th, about 10% of Illinois voters will have a non-binding question on their primary ballot about whether Illinois should opt into the federal voucher program. You can check on this list to see if your county (or, in a few cases, your township) will have the ballot question.

Concerningly, the question is misleadingly worded (see details below). It implies that the program will not redirect public dollars to fund private schools and does not include the word voucher.

We urge all voters to vote NO on the question about the federal voucher program.

Share this fact sheet on the referenda.

Based on this news story, it looks like these stealth voucher ballot questions were coordinated by the Illinois Policy Institute, an ultra-conservative, anti-public school think tank funded by rightwing billionaires, including Charles Koch and Dick Uihlein. You can read more about IPI here.

The results of these ballot questions have no legal impact; the decision about whether Illinois joins the federal voucher program is up to Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly.

However, IPI and other voucher supporters are likely to use any favorable results as an indicator of public support for vouchers. 

Historically, vouchers have lost on the ballot every time voters have been asked to weigh in since 1970, including the 2024 general election, where voters in Kentucky and Nebraska soundly rejected them by about 2:1. Voucher proponents know that vouchers aren’t popular with voters, which explains the deceptive wording on this latest question, describing the program as a federal program that distributes private dollars:

Voters reading their ballot carefully may ask: why would you need a federal program to distribute private money? The answer is that the federal voucher program spends public dollars. It will divert billions of tax dollars from the US Treasury to fund mostly private education around the country. There is no limit on the size of the program in the statute, but estimates are upwards of $25 billion a year.

Because each of these advisory questions were approved by different jurisdictions, the wording may vary! Here's the wording on the Grundy County ballot for example:

More about the federal voucher program

The federal voucher program, set to begin in January 2027, is structured as a tax credit scholarship program, like Illinois’ now-defunct voucher program, known as “Invest in Kids.” Tax credit scholarship vouchers let taxpayers divert some portion of the taxes they owe to third-party “scholarship granting organizations” (SGOs). 

These SGOs then distribute the money as vouchers to pay for private school tuition and fees, mostly at religious schools. 

Regulations to implement the program are not yet finalized, but all indications thus far are that the SGO industry will be dominated by large multi-state organizations (e.g. a Florida SGO with ~$1B in revenue last year), with assistance from Betsy DeVos’ American Federation for Children, which has already seeded a $10 million fund for AFC to promote SGOs that align with it, in addition to creating its own SGO. 

The money given to SGOs would otherwise be collected as tax payments, and courts have ruled that legally these are public funds.

Voucher programs were created to fund private schools with tax dollars , and the federal one is likely to be no different—despite the fact that in theory some dollars could go to SGOs that distribute money for individual public school families’ expenses. The overall drain on public school budgets if even a small percentage of students leave for private schools will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, far outweighing any revenue from SGOs to public school students.

Opting into the federal voucher program will undoubtedly and irreversibly erode Illinois' public school funding—which is why we urge all voters to vote NO on this ballot question to send a clear message: Illinois says NO to vouchers.

More resources

• “What to know about the new federal school voucher program” - IL-FPS's FAQ
• "The Federal Tax Credit Voucher Program: A Landscape of Risks for Public Schools and Students" - National Coalition for Public Education
• "The Federal Tax Credit Program is Not Offering Free Money for States" - National Coalition for Public Education
• "Vouchers hurt equity": Illinois had a voucher program in the form of a tax credit scholarship from 2018-2024. This 1-pager summarizes IL-FPS' research on how the program funded discrimination, not equity. More background on Illinois' voucher program here.

Strong public schools that welcome and nurture every child benefit all of us. But, as you know, since January, the Trump administration has been engaged in a massive campaign to destroy our public school system, in line with a larger agenda of undermining the public good and the foundations of a democratic society, including the establishment of a brand new federal voucher program.

Congress passed a massive and harmful bill in early July that includes sweeping cuts to essential programs that millions of people rely on every day. From healthcare and food assistance to housing, and clean energy investments, the harm done by this law will be felt in communities across the country—including in our public schools. To help break it all down, Citizen Action Illinois is holding a virtual briefing this coming Monday, Aug 11th at 11am with leading experts from the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, Illinois Environmental Council, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, and Illinois Families for Public Schools.

Despite months of organizing and a concerted last-ditch effort by Democratic Senators to stop it, a federal voucher program ended up in the final version of the reconciliation bill that narrowly passed both chambers earlier this month.

The US Senate could vote as early as Friday on the reconciliation bill that would harm so much of the fabric of our country, including the basics of food, healthcare, and, yes, public schools, in order to bankroll billionaires.

But, the exact contents of the bill on the Senate side are still fluid, and, as of this afternoon, some Republicans aren’t fully on board yet.

There's been lots of public education news in recent days. Below we cover three stories where your action is needed:

• Legislation to create national voucher program advances in the US House
• Fallout from the Powerschool data breach continues, but no movement on student data privacy bill in Springfield
• For-profit virtual counseling services in CPS endanger students' private data

Last fall, pro-public school advocates successfully pushed the Illinois General Assembly to sunset the state’s school voucher program (aka “Invest in Kids”). A broad coalition of more than 60 local, state and national orgs made this victory possible. Rather than devoting tens of millions of dollars a year to private schools that discriminate, those dollars now go back to the state’s General Revenue Fund to support the public good—including funding our public schools.

In 2017, the IL General Assembly passed the Invest in Kids Act and created what was supposed to be a temporary school voucher program that could divert up to $75 million per year in public dollars to fund private schools in Illinois. Voucher programs siphon funds from public schools, they don’t promote education equity and they don’t improve outcomes for the students who receive them. You can read our FAQ about problems with the Illinois’ voucher program here.

Now supporters want to make this program permanent and expand it. This would be extremely damaging for Illinois’ public education system, and that’s why Illinois Families for Public Schools is working with many other state and local orgs, including the League of Women Voters of IL, IL’s teachers unions, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and many others, to call for ending this program for good. 

Update: As a result of pressure from a broad-based coalition of organizations wanting to protect public schools and the public good, the IL General Assembly took no action to extend the Invest in Kids Act beyond its Jan 1, 2025 sunset date, and the program has ended! Read more about the campaign and why Invest in Kids needed to end below.

In 2017, as a result of a backroom deal between then Governor Rauner, legislative leaders and the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the IL General Assembly created a K-12 voucher program for Illinois in the form of a tax credit scholarship scheme. Known as the Invest in Kids Act, the law allows up to $75 million in tax revenue to be diverted to private schools each year. More than $250 million state dollars have now been siphoned off to private schools in our state.

This program was intended to last for five years and to sunset after the 2022-2023 school year. It was extended for one additional school year already. Voucher supporters and school privatizers want it to be made permanent and expand!

The Illinois General Assembly has one last chance to take a vote to revive this program, Veto Session, scheduled for Oct 24-26th and Nov 7-9th. If no legislation is passed, it will end. But they could also pass a bill to continue funding it. This is the do-or-die moment for whether Illinois will continue this harmful program.

Illinois Families for Public Schools opposes extending or expanding this voucher program. Vouchers harm the public good in a variety of ways including by diverting public dollars from our already underfunded Illinois public schools, and research has shown that they do not improve academic outcomes for children who receive vouchers. Voucher schools in Illinois discriminate on the basis of religion, disability status, LGBTQ+ status and more---that's not what education equity looks like.

Public funds should be for public schools that serve all children. It should be "game over" for IL's voucher program—we need to ensure that the Invest in Kids Act sunsets as intended after this school year! Use this link to email your state rep and state senator a letter urging them to oppose any extension or expansion of Invest in Kids.

Learn more about the problems with the Invest in Kids voucher program:

• What You Need to Know about Invest in Kids - Forum 4.25.23: Recording
• FAQ Explainer (English and Spanish): Invest In Kids Act: What you need to know about IL's backdoor voucher program/Programa De Incentivos Por Medio De La Beca Invertir En Niños De Illinois:  Qué saber sobre la Ley Invertir en Niños
• One-pager for legislators: Sunset the ‘Invest in Kids’ Act
• Slideshow: Illinois' Backdoor Voucher Program (Recording available here)
• Vouchers fund discrimination: Examples from dozens of Illinois voucher-funded schools.
• Vouchers hurt equity./Los vouchers dañan la equidad. (English and Spanish)
• Who Supports Illinois’ Invest in Kids Voucher Program?
• Illinois’ Invest in Kids Act voucher program and the separation of church and state: Why it matters
• Voucher Expansion Elsewhere in the Midwest
• What we don't know about IL's Invest in Kids voucher program 
• Do these wealthy private schools need Illinois’ taxpayer support? (Spoiler alert: No.)
• Public dollars, no public oversight
• Zine to print and share: Voucher programs! An attack on public schools and the public good
• Could Illinois stop voucher schools from discriminating? (Spoiler alert: Also no.)
• Map of public schools and private schools receiving vouchers
• Statement on research evaluation of Invest in Kids program outcomes 
• Stats on public schools and voucher funding by legislative district:
  • House District 7 - Speaker Welch
  • House District 16 - Rep. Olickal
  • House District 25 - Rep. Tarver
  • House District 98 - Rep Manley
  • Senate District 5 - Sen. Collins
  • Senate District 6 - Sen. Feigenholtz
  • Senate District 8 - Sen. Villivalam
  • Senate District 18 - Sen. Cunningham
• Case Studies on voucher schools
  • The Field School, Chicago
  • Joliet Catholic Academy, Joliet
  • South Side Christian Academy, Peoria

✶ More Resources

• Public Funds Public Schools Voucher and Funding Diversion Legal Cases
• National Coalition for Public Education Opposing Private School Vouchers: A Toolkit for Legislators and Advocates
• IL Dept of Revenue: Invest In Kids site
• Center for American Progress (May 2019) The Danger Private School Voucher Programs Pose to Civil Rights
• Network for Public Education's Privatization Toolkit 
  • Voucher FAQ
  • Tax Credit Scholarship FAQ

✶ Get Involved

Are you interested in helping us ensure that Illinois' voucher program ends? Sign up below to get updates about the campaign and opportunities to get involved!

We are happy to do presentations for your neighborhood or community group to explain IL's voucher program and why it needs to end. Email us to schedule a time.

If you represent an organization that would like to collaborate with IL-FPS on this campaign, please get in touch via email [email protected] 

The following organizations have endorsed ending the Invest in Kids voucher program:

Access Living ● ACLU of Illinois  ● Action Ridge ● Activate Chicago Parents ● AFT Local 604 ● American Association of University Women Illinois ● American Association of University Women Naperville Area ● Americans United for the Separation of Church and State ● Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago ● BG Pride ● Brighton Park Neighborhood Council ● Center for Tax and Budget Accountability ● Champaign-Urbana Democratic Socialists of America ● Chicago Coalition for the Homeless ● Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights ● Chicago Teachers Union ● Citizen Action/Illinois ● COFI  ● Cook County College Teachers Union, Local 1600 ● Democratic Women of McDonough County ● ED-RED ● Educational Village Keepers ● Equality Illinois ● Families 4 Students and Teachers ● 50th Ward Working Families ● 48th Ward Neighbors for Justice ● Healing to Action ● Illinois Education Association ● Illinois Families for Public Schools ● Illinois Federation of Teachers ● Illinois Green Party ● Illinois High School District Organization ● Independent Voters of IL - Independent Precinct Organization ● Illinois Moms 4 Change ● Illinois National Organization for Women ● Illinois Parent Teacher Association ● Illinois State Conference NAACP ● Indivisible Chicago ● Indivisible Evanston ● Indivisible Lincoln Square ● JCUA ● Journey for Justice Alliance ● Kenwood Oakland Community Organization ● League of Women Voters of Illinois ● Learning Disabilities Association of Illinois ● Legal Council for Health Justice ● LEND ● Library Defense ● Lugenia Burns Hope Center ● National Association of Social Workers - IL Chapter ● National Council of Jewish Women - Chicago North Shore ● National Council of Jewish Women - South Cook Section ● Network for Public Education ● Network 49 ● Northside Action for Justice ● ONE Northside ● PFLAG Council of Northern Illinois ● Peoria IL NOW ● Pilsen Alliance ● POWER-PAC IL ● Public Funds Public Schools ● Progressives for Democracy in America - Illinois ● Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education ● SCOPE ● Teach Plus ● 30th United ● 39th Ward Neighbors United ● 33rd Ward Working Families ● Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois ● United Northwest Side