Chicago City Wire

Despite having attended a private school, state Rep. Jaime M. Andrade, Jr. (D-Chicago) voted for a budget that lets the Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program expire. 

He is one of 73 House members who approved the budget.

Andrade is a graduate of St. Andrew School and Gordon Tech High School which has since changed its name to DePaul College Prep in 2014. He then attended DePaul University for his undergraduate and post graduate degrees.

"Illinois State Representative Jaime M. Andrade, Jr.’s grit and determination are characteristic of DePaul alumni," DePaul University's website reads.  

Andrade has taken to hosting meetings at his alma mater. 

Ninety-nine percent of DePaul College Prep's graduates go on to a four-year institution. The tuition fee at the school costs $18,294 per year. DePaul College Prep advocated for parents to take part in the program that started in 2017. 

“Through the ‘Invest in Kids Act,’ Illinois children from low-income households who want to attend private schools will have access to new scholarships,” DePaul College Prep stated on its website. “The scholarships offered through this program could cover up to 100 percent of tuition and eligible fees for next school year. Scholarships will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis and there is no guarantee you will receive a scholarship even if you are eligible.”

Andrade is one of 35 of Illinois' 177 state legislators who attended private high schools. The private high school graduates include ten Republicans and 25 Democrats, 15 of whom were raised in the City of Chicago, a survey conducted by Prairie State Wire showed.

The scholarship program allows for donors who contribute to qualified Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) to receive a 75% income tax credit. It serves over 9,000 K-12 students. But the program is to expire as its funding was not considered in the state’s $50 billion budget.

“This is not something that’s been covered by the budget agreement. It’s something that still has time, potentially, but it’s not something that’s in the budget agreement,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said about the program. 

Proponents of the program are making allegations of hypocrisy against lawmakers who send their own children to private schools but voted for a budget that doesn't include the scholarship program.

In an editorial, The Wall Street Journal blamed teachers' unions, Democratic lawmakers, and failures within the public education system. The editorial said that the decision to sunset the scholarship program disregards the needs of low-income students but prioritized the interests of unions over educational reform. The editorial said the main reason behind opposition to the program is the influence of teachers' unions, with the agenda to terminate it because its popularity underlined the failures of public schools. 

The Invest in Kids program received more than 31,000 applications in 2022, indicating a high demand for alternatives to underperforming public schools. The Wall Street Journal editorial said many low-income families, particularly Black and Hispanic families, supported the scholarship program because their assigned Illinois schools had low proficiency rates in reading and math. The editorial said the shortcomings of the public education system is evident from the fourth to eighth grades, leading to a high demand to seek options. However, the editorial claims, the unions prioritized their power over student learning and pointed fingers at the schools' failures on lack of funding rather than addressing systemic issues. WSJ claims union leaders hold significant influence over Illinois lawmakers, who have received substantial campaign contributions from teachers' unions. 

Chicago’s Morning Answer host Dan Proft called out Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) and other legislative leaders for sending their own kids to Catholic schools but eliminating funding for low-income students.

“Senate President Don Harmon's kids: St. Giles, St. Ignatius,” Proft said on Twitter. “House Speaker Chris Welch's kids: Timothy Christian. Why not OPRF or Proviso?”

On the May 15 episode of Chicago’s Morning Answer Proft discussed the lawmakers who voted to cut the tax credit despite having benefitted from a private school education themselves. 

“I don't know why we're the only ones who will do this. We're happy to do it. But there should be a chorus talking about the hypocrisy of Illinois state legislators when it comes to the tax credit scholarship program to provide school choice to lower to middle-income families who are otherwise relegated to terrible schools discriminated against based on their household income in their address,” Proft said on the May 15 episode of Chicago’s Morning Answer. “Give you a little bit of a sampling of where your duly elected state legislators went to high school, selective enrollment, and private schools.”