Illinois is faced with the decision of whether or not to participate in the new federal voucher program, designed to send billions of federal tax dollars—public money—to private schools and unregulated 3rd-party education vendors.

Theoretically, some of these dollars could cover the expenses for public school students, but they'll mostly end up in wealthier communities and certainly won't be a net benefit to our underresourced public school system in Illinois.

Each state's governor must opt into the program on an annual basis unless the state legislature sets a more permanent policy in statute. It is important for each of us as individuals to advocate with our state electeds to oppose this program but we also want our school communities as a whole to take a stance.

Our toolkit will help you find other pro-public school folks in your school district and organize with them in order to encourage your school board to pass a resolution opposing vouchers and demanding full state funding for our public schools.

Here's the basic steps, but check out the full toolkit for complete details and lots of helpful tips:

Step 1: Draft a “Public Funds For Public Schools Resolution” for your school district : We have a template for you to use, but you'll need to look up some statistics specific to your school district.

Step 2: Gather signatures on a petition calling on your school board to pass the resolution: You'll create a paper petition using our template and then collect signatures in person. The toolkit has instructions for carrying out a successful in-person petition drive, as well as suggestions for supplementing that with an electronic petition.

Step 3: Announce the petition and resolution publicly at your school board meeting: You'll attend a meeting of your school board to present your petition with signatures and ask the board to pass the resolution. All public meetings in Illinois must set aside time during the meeting for public participation, so this is the best way to make sure your board and your community hear about the resolution. The toolkit has tips on preparing for the meeting and speaking to your board.

Please reach out at any point as you go through these steps if you need advice or have questions. We will also have periodic Zoom "office hours" for informal check-ins and troubleshooting; keep an eye out for announcements about those. 

You can also attend a Public School Strong orientation which will provide you with even more practical tools to get connected with other public school supporters in your district/community, not just about vouchers and funding, but whatever it is that families and students need in your school community.

Fill out the form below if you are starting a local campaign to get your school board to pass a resolution, so we can make sure you get updates on what's happening in other communities and announcements of office hours and other events: