Families push to extend Illinois’ school choice program at start of veto
session
Send a link to a friend
[October 25, 2023]
(The Center Square) – As members of each party lay out
their priorities with the start of fall veto session at the Illinois
statehouse, scores of school kids benefiting from the soon-to-expire
Invest in Kids school choice scholarship program were on the scene.
But to start the session, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch,
D-Hillside, advanced a measure out of committee to allow statehouse
staffers to unionize.
“The way this bill is written, there will be no bargaining over
calendars and schedules and how the legislature will operate,” Welch
told the committee. “And we have a no strike provision.”
Welch’s bill was the only measure advanced Tuesday by the House. It
would need to pass the House floor and the Senate before becoming law
and only impacts certain legislative staff members.
State Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, criticized the measure taking
precedence during the veto session as it only impacts a small number of
state employees. He said that is misguided when the sunset of the Invest
in Kids school choice scholarship program approaches Dec. 31.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Oct/25/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
“We have kicked the can and kicked the can and now it is time for action
for the legislature. I certainly hope to step up and save this program,”
Spain said during a news conference about the GOP’s agenda for veto
session.
The program that began five years ago allows private donations to a fund
to be used to give low-income families grants to send their children to
a school of their choice. Those who donate get a 75% Illinois income tax
credit. The program has already benefited thousands of families across
the state.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/102523PIX/news_d4.jpg)
Parents and children arrive at the Illinois State Capitol to urge an
extension of the Invest in Kids school choice scholarship program. -
Greg Bishop / The Center Square
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Oct/25/images/ads/current/longviewbank_lda_PPP_2023.png)
At an unrelated event in Chicago Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker was asked
about whether to extend the Invest in Kids school choice scholarship
program. Pritzker said he’s focused on public school funding, but said
he’d sign an extension.
“Members of the General Assembly have been considering this for a few
years now,” Pritzker said. “I think it is going to reach some
culmination either in the veto session or in the coming spring session
and I look forward to hearing what the General Assembly would like to
do.”
If the program is allowed to expire at the end of the year, parents with
children in a private school now could find funding drying up before the
start of the second half of the school year.
Parent Tracy Smith from Chicago brought her twin children to the capitol
in Springfield Tuesday to urge for the measure’s extension.
“We give tax credits to movies, why can’t we give tax credits to kids,”
Smith told The Center Square. “We have millions of dollars that’s being
funded to house and home people, why can’t we not keep the doors of
education open?”
Legislators continue session Wednesday.
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |