The Human Rights Campaign has declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in response to the alarming surge in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the country. 

Tonight, the HRC Steering Committee of Chicago is holding a town hall in Lake View at 6pm to discuss how to ensure Illinois remains a safe haven for all in the midst of this emergency. (Details and registration here.)

State Representative Kevin Olickal is on the panel and that raises a big question.

Last week, voucher supporters, including Empower IL—the largest of the middlemen orgs that process vouchers and skim millions of taxpayer dollars off the top as they do so—launched a public relations campaign to “save” the Invest in Kids voucher program from sunsetting. Unfortunately, their PR push is rife with misinformation. 

Here’s some facts you need to know about the program that voucher cheerleaders aren’t sharing:

This fall's Veto Session in Springfield will be pivotal for the fate of the Illinois' K-12 school voucher program (aka "Invest in Kids"). The Illinois General Assembly must vote before the end of the calendar year if the program is to extend past its current sunset date. Veto Session begins October 24th, so this is the time that public school supporters need to mobilize and spread the word to neighbors, colleagues, family and friends about why privatizing our public system is wrong and why they need to contact their legislators about ending Illinois' voucher program. Here's a way to do that!

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, a month for celebration and remembrance of the struggle for equality and liberation. In the current political environment, wins and progress over the past half century cannot be taken for granted.

Across the country the civil rights of LGBTQ+ children, youth and adults are under attack and being stripped away, including the most basic rights to be seen, be included and be safe in one’s community. As we’ve seen in just the last year, we aren’t immune to anti-LGBTQ+ hate, harassment and even violence in Illinois—whether it's at a school, a bakery, a hospital or a library. 

Quick update on what's happening in Springfield...

The Governor, Senate President and Speaker of the House announced a budget agreement yesterday that did not include an extension of the Invest in Kids voucher program.

May 19th has come…and gone, but the General Assembly has not adjourned to end the spring session There’s no budget for FY 2024 yet, and we don’t yet know whether the Invest in Kids voucher program will be extended past the current sunset date.

Legislators will be back in Springfield next Wednesday. The real hard deadline to pass bills is May 31st, after which bills need a ⅗ majority to pass.

Illinois Families for Public Schools, the Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the League of Women Voters of Illinois held a virtual forum on Tuesday April 25, 2023, "What You Need to Know about Invest in Kids: Illinois’ Tax Credit Voucher Program."

If you missed this event or want to share with others, here’s a link to the recording:

You’ll find the slides here from Professor Josh Cowen, looking at the research on student achievement for students who use vouchers, and here from Cassie Creswell, with details on the Invest in Kids program’s issues with oversight and discrimination. See also the new policy brief, "Illinois Lawmakers: Let the State’s Private School Voucher Law Sunset," co-authored by panelist Jessica Levin of Public Funds Public Schools.  

More links from the forum:

• TIME How School Voucher Programs Hurt Students by Josh Cowen
• Indiana Coalition for Public Education
• Network for Public Education
• Blog - Vic's Statehouse Notes

Voucher plans are sweeping the country, transferring public funds to private schools. Many Illinois residents don't realize we have a voucher program right here in the form of a tax credit "scholarship" program, known as Invest in Kids.

Our expert panel looks at this national trend, examines the research on student achievement in voucher schools, gives a glimpse of the impact of vouchers on students in our neighboring state of Indiana, and presents important information about Invest in Kids. Learn how you can join the campaign endorsed by more than 50 local, state and national organizations to end the program permanently!

Jessica Levin, is the Acting Litigation Director at the Education Law Center and the Director of Public Funds Public Schools. She will discuss the dramatic increase in voucher program throughout the country, a massive transfer of public funds to private and religious schools.

Dr. Josh Cowen, Professor of Education Policy at Michigan State University, is a nationally recognized researcher on vouchers. He will share his research on the impact of voucher programs on student achievement.

Dountonia S. Batts, a community advocate and a board member of Network for Public Education Action. As a parent, she will share her first-hand experience about the negative/destructive impact of vouchers on students and schools in Indiana.

Cassie Creswell, the director of Illinois Families for Public Schools and a Chicago Public Schools parent, has long experience as an advocate for public schools. She will provide detailed information about the problems with Invest in Kids. You will come away armed with facts and arguments about our voucher program to share with your state legislators.

Thank you to all our co-sponsors:

Illinois Education Association, Illinois Federation of Teachers, League of Women Voters of Illinois, Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, BG Pride, AAUW Naperville Area

On Wednesday night, IL-FPS broke the news that Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education under former (and now indicted) President Trump, was spending thousands in the mayoral race in support of Paul Vallas. 

CHICAGO — Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas is falsely denying his connections to former President Trump’s former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and an Illinois Super PAC that DeVos funds.

[full press release after the jump]

CHICAGO — Last week ex-President Trump’s former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made a $59,000 independent expenditure in support of mayoral candidate Paul Vallas’ campaign from a Super PAC she funds, the Illinois Federation for Children PAC.

The Illinois Federation for Children PAC was established in March 2022 and has received $465,000 in total from DeVos’ American Federation for Children Action Fund, a national 527 PAC. The Illinois Federation PAC’s chair, Nathan Hoffman, was a registered contract lobbyist in Springfield for the American Federation for Children until January this year.

[full press release after the jump]