By participating in a federal tax credit program, Governor J.B. Pritzker, according to a state senator in Illinois, has the ability to provide students who are attending schools that are failing with a chance at a better future.
The “one big beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this month includes a tax credit of one hundred percent for individuals who make a donation of up to one thousand seven hundred dollars to an organization that grants school choice scholarships. Andrew Chesney, a state senator from Illinois, stated that the necessary administrative steps for a state to participate are straightforward.
“It ought to be an easy choice for the governor, but it’s a politically difficult choice when you take a look at the extreme is in place within the Democratic Party,” Chesney said in an interview with The Center Square.
In a statement about the concerns that the bill will have an effect on the education system in Illinois, the office of Governor Pritzker stated that the scholarship program may have an effect on the funding for public schools.
Other criticisms of the federal bill were included in a statement released by Pritzker’s office. The statement included the following: “Creating a new tax credit refund that benefits private school donors who pay for tuition vouchers, potentially reducing state and federal funding for public schools that experience a decline in student enrollment.”
There is no effect on the funding that is provided to public schools. He is aware of that. “Everyone is aware of it,” Chesney stated. The only reason he does not like it is because he has a political stake in doing so.
In the year 2027, the federal initiative is scheduled to get underway.
Those pupils who do not participate in the federal program, according to Chesney, may be forced to remain in schools that are not performing well.
“If a parent has a problem with their school, they should be able to fire that school system and put their child in a school district or a private school or a charter school of their choice,” he said. “I think you can make this case in the South Side of Chicago, I think you can make this case in the suburbs, and you can make this case in your rural communities,” he said. “I think you can make this case in all of these places.”
An Invest in Kids program that was passed in 2017 in the state of Illinois provided a tax credit of 75% for scholarships of this kind. At the end of the year 2023, the program was permitted to terminate by the legislators of the state. Fourty thousand families benefited from the program.
