Action Alert: Witness slips need to OPPOSE creation of new voucher scheme in IL - HB1573

Update: This bill was not heard on March 28th, and no vote was taken. It has a deadline extension through the end of spring session. We'll be keeping an eye on it.

Illinois Families for Public Schools is in Springfield today talking to legislators about our legislative agenda, including urging them to ensure that the existing Invest in Kids voucher program endsUnfortunately, a bill to create an even larger, less regulated voucher scheme is in hearing this afternoon, HB 1573, the Education Savings Account Act. 

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What do state test scores measure?

In the decades since the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, much of the rhetoric around K-12 school performance and student academic achievement is centered around the percentage of students labeled as meeting or exceeding standards on state standardized tests. This percentage is often misinterpreted as the percentage of children scoring at or above grade level.

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Dark money in school board races; more (disturbing) examples of voucher discrimination; and more

School board races are being flooded with dark money

Tuesday April 4th is voting day for local elections—including school boards—throughout Illinois. That’s when Chicago holds its municipal run-offs for mayor and many city council seats. And, outside of Chicago, in addition to school boards, library boards and village boards (or city council) elections take place on April 4th as well. 

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PRESS RELEASE: Pro-Public Schools Coalition Calls For Illinois’ School Voucher Program To End

More than 50 local, state and national organizations are calling for the Illinois General Assembly to ensure Illinois’ Invest in Kids voucher program ends as intended after the coming school year. Full press release below.

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Witness slips needed for clean air in schools, #RacismFreeSchools, child tax credit & stopping book bans

This week's General Assembly committee deadlines mean its witness slip time! This Friday is an important legislative deadline for bills to pass in committee in their chamber of origin. (Here’s a helpful graphic of the route from bill to law.)

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What’s the outlook for public (and private!) school funding in the Governor’s budget address?

Gov. Pritzker gave his budget address on Wednesday, and it was heartening to hear him call out attacks on school boards and libraries, including book bans and 'Don't Say Gay' laws, and say unequivocally that here in Illinois we want our children to learn the truth about our history as a country, “warts and all.”

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A short (and disturbing!) tour of voucher programs around the Midwest

The push to dismantle public education via voucher schemes that start small and then metastasize to drain public coffers isn’t just a battle happening in Illinois. It’s nationwide, and it’s accelerating. Scroll down for a post-lame-duck session update on own Illinois’ Invest in Kids voucher program, but first let’s take a look at what’s happening in our neighboring states.

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Action Alert: Tell legislators the Invest in Kids voucher program must end!

As we've been sharing, the General Assembly has one more short “lame duck” session this week before new legislators are seated on Jan 11th. We’re concerned that legislation extending or even expanding the Invest in Kids voucher program could get traction. Keep reading for what you can do to make sure that doesn’t happen!

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What could happen in lame duck with Invest in Kids; plus how vouchers fund discrimination

[Jan 3 2023: Updated alert hereSnow and winter holidays are quieting things down on the political front, but the IL General Assembly will be back right after New Year's Day in a “lame duck” session. And, just like with veto session, it’s possible that during lame duck, legislation on the Invest in Kids voucher program could move that included an extension, expansion or making it permanent.

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Veto session recap and public forum on Invest in Kids

IL-FPS was in Springfield during this week’s veto session to talk to legislators about Illinois' voucher program. The law that created the program in 2017, the Invest in Kids Act, was supposed to sunset after five years, but it's already been extended for an extra year. Voucher supporters want to remove the sunset clause to make the program permanent and also expand it. But we think public funds should only be for public schools, and we're launching a campaign to push for Invest in Kids to sunset for goodWe’re happy to report back that, despite massive amounts of lobbying from pro-voucher groups, there wasn’t movement during veto session on any legislation regarding the Invest in Kids Act.

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