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Is Public Education a Right or a Privilege: Illinois at a Crossroads

By Karen Garibay-Mulattieri, Manager of Education Policy and Research

Public schools are currently under great distress having to surmount slow or no payments from the state of Illinois. Illinois has not fulfilled its obligation and has lagged behind the nation in terms of providing adequate state funding to educate our kids, leaving schools with insufficient resources to meet the needs of low-income students. Multiple commissions have thoroughly analyzed this problem and, finally, there appeared to be hope.  Senate Bill 1 was crafted to establish funding targets for every community in Illinois based on the characteristics and needs of the students in its district. The bill also promoted best practices in education and a distribution of new money to districts that are the furthest away from adequacy.

 SB1 was held under a microscope for some time and debated openly and publicly with many stakeholders weighing in. Ultimately, the bill passed both the House and the Senate and was sent Governor Rauner on July 31.

In great contrast to the provision of equitable funding under SB1, recent negotiations have introduced the idea of private school scholarships and tax credits for those who donate to them. In essence, this introduces an idea which could lead to a school voucher system. Is diverting funding from public to private schools in line promoting equity, which was the the original intention of SB1? Who benefits from private school scholarships and tax credits, the haves or the have nots?  What would private school vouchers mean for English Learners and immigrant students? Has the public been provided an analysis of this issue and the implications for equity across the state?

Instead of a last minute, behind the scenes discussion, the public deserves an open forum to debate and discuss a potentially significant change in public and private education. If this is truly a democratic process, the governor and the General Assembly owe it to their citizenry to be forthright on how public money will be spent.

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