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The Archdiocese of Chicago announced this week the closing of
two west suburban Catholic schools at the end of the school
year. St. Frances of Rome in Cicero had 104 students on
scholarship and St. Odilo in Berwyn had 60 students on
scholarship.
Invest in Kids expired at the end of last year after Illinois
legislators failed to advance an extension of the scholarship
program, which provided full or partial scholarships for over
10,000 low-income students statewide. The bipartisan Invest in
Kids Act passed in 2017 and provided privately funded
scholarships to kids from low-income and working-class families
to attend their best-fit private school. Donors to the program
received a 75% Illinois income tax credit.
“Empower Illinois stands in solidarity with the parents,
students, teachers, and communities of St. Frances of Rome and
St. Odilo. Without this life-changing scholarship program, many
of those families simply could not afford to attend the school,
forcing its closure,” Empower Illinois Executive Director Bobby
Sylvester said in a statement.
A compromise was proposed last fall to scale the program to $50
million a year, but Democrats, who control both chambers of the
legislature, declined to take up the bill. Gov. J.B. Pritzker
said last year that he would sign an extension if the bill made
it to his desk.
“I think it is important to note that the tax credit scholarship
program is providing means for struggling families to get out of
poverty,” said Bob Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic
Conference of Illinois.
Gilligan said he is hopeful the program will be renewed in the
near future.
“Many lawmakers have indicated to us that there are
conversations underway, so we are going to keep pursuing it
because we have an obligation to do so on behalf of those
families who are impacted by this,” said Gilligan.
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