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 “In 2020, unfortunately, we didn’t receive Invest In Kids scholarships for
either of our children. It affected us a lot because there wasn’t a lot of work,
either. We had to reduce our expenses, and even still we fought hard to keep
both our kids in private school. We had to sell a car in order to stay afloat
financially,” Rodriguez said.
Along with the Rodriguez children, 7,600 low-income students in Illinois rely on
Invest in Kids tax credit scholarships to maintain that stability in their
education. Whether for personal values, educations that better fit their
learning needs, safety or financial reasons, over four times that number want
help to attend a qualified, non-public school. Over 32,000 are on the Empower
Illinois waitlist alone.
“The scholarships help us a lot because I am self-employed, and I don’t always
have a fixed income. On my own, it would be very difficult to afford the tuition
and fees at our local private school. The scholarship has helped me to keep my
kids in a good school,” Rodriguez said.
Empower Illinois reported the average annual household income of participants is
$38,000, and 49% of participating students are Black or Hispanic.
For the Rodriguez family, the switch to private school came out of fear for
their son’s safety at their local public school.
“Unfortunately, my son was bullied in 4th and 5th grade so we decided to take
him out because it was a constant problem. Other kids would joke about him,
blame him for things he didn’t do, make fun of him, or try to peer-pressure him
into doing things he didn’t want to do.”
“He didn’t say anything, but we noticed that he lost the will to go to public
school. As parents we noticed that, and we decided it was time to look for other
educational options,” Rodriguez said.
The Rodriguez family found refuge at St. Nicholas of Tolentine after hearing
great things about it from community members. They received financial assistance
for their son, and the next year their daughter, to access a safe haven from
bullying at the public schools.
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“As soon as we switched to St. Nicholas our son
told us that he felt the difference in the environment, values,
education, in everything they teach them in the private Catholic
school. From the first day, he felt welcome, and his grades
improved.
“When [our daughter] started at St. Nicholas, she immediately had
more self-confidence. She had a greater love for school. Thankfully,
for 2021-2022, Melanie qualified and received the Invest in Kids
scholarship again. She is very happy, and working very hard to keep
her grades up.”
Scholarships for the Rodriguez family were provided through the
Invest in Kids Act, which offers donors a 75% state tax credit when
they help low-income students attend private schools. State
lawmakers created the scholarships in 2017, and last year extended
the original sunset date to the end of 2023.
But that end date means the Rodriguez family and thousands of others
may lose access to those opportunities unless state lawmakers act on
Senate Bill 3618, introduced by state Sen. Antonio Muńoz, D-Chicago,
to expand scholarship opportunities for low-income students and
families.
Lawmakers through the bill could make the program permanent,
increase the emphasis on supporting students already in the program,
expand it to pre-K students, increase the credit to 100% of a
donation and allow business donors to target their gifts to specific
schools, as individual donors presently can.
The Rodriguez’ went to great lengths to protect their children’s
educations and safety in difficult financial times. Expanding Invest
in Kids will ensure more families across Illinois can access safe,
quality educational environments for their kids now and in the
future.
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