The Wall Street Journal has praised Gov. Bruce Rauner’s efforts in the school funding reform debate that led to the introduction of a school choice program in the reform legislation, according to a recent release from the Illinois Republican Party.
“Illinois residents have watched for years as their taxes go up while public services and schools deteriorate,” the paper's editorial said. “But GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner will deliver Prairie Staters some good news Thursday by signing into law an inaugural state private-school choice program.”
The GOP said that following Rauner’s veto of an earlier reform bill and a lack of support to override that veto, Democrats compromised and approved a $100 million program that will grant individuals and businesses tax credits for their contributions to scholarship funds. The tax credits will be worth 75 percent of the amounts donated, and the editorial noted that the total amount for the program is a small portion of the $8.2 billion the state has allotted to education.
Gov. Bruce Rauner
“...After the state House approved the tax-credit scholarships, the Chicago Teachers Union declared that the ‘Illinois Democratic Party has crossed a line which no spin or talk of ‘compromise’ can ever erase,’” the editorial said. “Sounds like the good guys won for a change.”
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