Prairie State Wire

Corey DeAngelis, executive director of the Educational Freedom Institute, called Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch, all Democrats, “a bunch of hypocrites” because the Democratic-majority Illinois legislature did not extend a school-choice funding program, called Invest in Kids, in a May 26 tweet.

"Illinois Democrats just killed the state’s private school choice program," DeAngelis tweeted. "Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) went to private school & sent his kids to private school. Senate President Harmon (D) & House Speaker Welch (D) also sent their kids to private school. A bunch of hypocrites".

The Wall Street Journal also weighed in.

“Mr. Pritzker attended the private Milton Academy in Massachusetts and has sent his children to Chicago’s Francis Parker and the Latin School, posh private schools where tuition tops $40,000 a year, a May 26 opinion piece said. "Sen. Harmon’s kids have attended private Catholic school St. Ignatius, while Mr. Welch’s attended Timothy Christian.”

The Invest in Kids program, launched in 2017 by then Gov. Bruce Rauner, provides privately funded scholarships for low-income children to escape failing public schools, according to an earlier Wall Street opinion piece on May 23.

The program was originally scheduled to sunset after five years but was extended for one year. Without another extension, it will end on January 1, 2025, the opinion piece said.

The Journal said the legislature’s inaction in the legislative session just ended has already killed the program. However, a May 16-17 article by Samantha Smylie in Chalkbeat Chicago, citing an aide to Welch, said lawmakers could still extend it in a special legislative session or during the two-week fall session when the legislature convenes to reconsider bills vetoed by the governor.

“The program so far has funded more than 40,000 scholarships, with all recipients qualifying based on financial need,” the May 23 Wall Street Journal opinion piece said.

Donors to the program can take a credit against their Illinois income taxes for 75% of their donations, the Illinois Department of Revenue website says. The maximum annual income for the families of students entering the program is 300% of the poverty level. Once in the program, the family’s income level can be up to 400% of the federal poverty level. In 2023, the federal poverty level is $30,000 for a family of four, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says. For a student in a family of four, the annual family income ceiling to enter the program is about $90,000, and to stay in, up to $120,000. About 9,000 benefit from the program, says the website of One Chance Illinois, which had a role in creating the program in 2017.

“Surveys reveal the popularity of school choice in Illinois, finding that more than 60% of voters support it,” One Chance says. “That includes 66% of Democratic voters, 71% of Black voters, and 81% of Latino voters. Supporters of protecting the Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program include Governor JB Pritzker, One Chance Illinois - Action, and other SGOs.”

The Journal said the program was killed by “pressure from the unions that dominate Illinois politics, including the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Education Association and the Chicago Teachers Union.” However, Illinois Families for Public Schools, which is lobbying to end the Invest in Kids tax credit, lists more than 50 organizations, not only teachers’ unions, that advocate ending it.