Illinois lawmakers decline to extend private school scholarship tax credit program

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois lawmakers adjourned their fall veto session Thursday afternoon without renewing a controversial program that provided indirect state support for students attending private and religious schools.

The Invest in Kids program will sunset as scheduled on Dec. 31, meaning donors to six state-approved private school scholarship funds will no longer be able to claim a 75 percent tax credit for their donations. The program has been capped at $75 million annually since its implementation in 2018.

Advocates for the program say without the tax incentives, the scholarship organizations won't be able to raise the money they have in recent years, and an estimated 9,600 students who currently receive those scholarships may have to find another way to pay for their education or transfer to their local public school.

Lawmakers passed the Invest in Kids Act in 2017 as part of a bipartisan package that also included an overhaul of the way Illinois funds public preK-12 education. The scholarship program was considered necessary in order to get then-Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, to sign the public school funding overhaul.

Supporters of the program argued that it gave children from lower-income backgrounds the ability to attend schools that would otherwise be available only to wealthier families. But opponents, including teachers' unions and other advocates for public education, argued that the tax credits siphoned money out of state coffers that could have been used to support public schools.

Last month, state Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar, D-Chicago, introduced House Bill 4194, which would have renewed a scaled-back version of the program. But that bill was never called for a vote.

Read more: Scholarship tax credit program among issues still on the table with 3 legislative days remaining

One question that remained unanswered about the program is whether students who received private school scholarships performed any better academically than their peers who went to public schools.

The 2017 law required students receiving the scholarships to take the same standardized tests that public school students take each year, and it called on the Illinois State Board of Education to publish an analysis of that data.

But ISBE has not yet published that analysis. Officials at the agency said they were unable to collect reliable data during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. An analysis using 2022 and 2023 test results is scheduled for release later this year or early in 2024.

Throughout the veto session, dozens of supporters of the program converged on the Statehouse wearing blue t-shirts and waving signs that read, "Protect our scholarships."

A group called the "Save My Scholarship Coalition" spoke about the inaction taken by lawmakers.

"Students will lose their scholarships. They may have to leave their schools. Entire schools themselves may close. Innovative new programs that have been developed through the tax credit scholarship program will not flourish," Anthony Holter of Empower Illinois said.

House Republican leader Tony McCombie, of Savanna, told reporters Thursday that she believes the program still has bipartisan support, and she said its backers will continue working to have it reinstated.

"It certainly will continue to be a priority of the caucus, and it certainly will be a priority of several of the Democrats in the House as well as, I believe, in the Senate," she said. "I don't think it's going to be something that they're going to want to just stop."

Chicago Hope Academy, a Near West Side private Christian school, reports half of their students are able to attend the school with the state's school voucher program.

"That's a very big fear. I just want to be able to finish here and be in the best position possible to succeed and without being at Hope I don't know where I would be," Chicago Hope Academy junior student Roy Phelps said.

Students from Hope and across the state rallied in Springfield Thursday in advance of an anticipated vote to fund the program. However, the bill was not called, therefore funding ends December 31.

"I hope that I can still finish my last year here and this year here as well," Chicago Hope Academy junior student Tony Jones Blakley said.

Opponents applaud the end of the program's funding.

The Chicago Teachers Union issued a statement about the situation.

"The sunset of Invest in Kids sends a powerful message that we will not allow the erosion of our public education system for the benefit of a select few," the statement read.

The President of the Illinois Education Association also issued a statement.

"Public money belongs in public schools and we are glad our lawmakers believe that, too," the statement read in part.

At Chicago Hope Academy, advocates for the program held a press conference Friday.

"It's heartbreaking that's the kids in my neighborhood don't have the opportunity... don't have a chance that my son had," said Lissette Ortiz, whose son received a voucher.

For now, administrators at schools like Chicago Hope Academy are scrambling to find funding to help students receiving vouchers get to graduation.

"It's not fair to these kids to not have the same opportunities as other people that have money," said Patti Serpa, whose son receives a voucher at St. Pius.

WLS-TV contributed to this report

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.