Chicago City Wire

Despite having attended a private school, Sen. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) voted for a budget that lets the Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program expire. 

Feigenholtz, a graduate of Ida Crown Jewish Academy, is just one of several Illinois legislators who have personally benefitted from private school education, but approved a budget that lets the scholarship program expire.

The Ida Crown Jewish Academy has thanked supporters of the Invest In Kids Tax Scholarship program.

“Your support of the Invest in Kids Scholarship Tax Credit program helps schools and nonprofits in their tax credit fundraising efforts while assisting students and their families through the scholarship process that can help make their dreams a reality,” Ida Crown Jewish Academy said in a flyer listing about 60 supporters of the school who had donated to the fund. “Because of you our qualifying students continue to receive a quality Jewish education.”

According to the state's Department of Revenue, in the 2021-22 school year, there were 13 recipients of the scholarship whose families were at the 100% to 185% of the federal poverty level, and 10 recipients whose families were within  250% to 300% of the federal poverty level enrolled at Ida Crown Jewish Academy.

In that same school year, tuition at Ida Crown Jewish Academy costs $25,200 per year. Niche reported that 98% of the school's graduates attend four-year school institutions.

Meanwhile, the cost per pupil at Chicago Public Schools, according to The Center Square, is nearly $30,000 per year, but students graduating from those schools  stand a lesser chance of enrolling in a four-year institution. The University of Chicago reported that only 42% of 2018 CPS graduates enrolled in a four-year college.

Feigenholtz is one of 35 of Illinois' 177 state legislators who attended private high schools. The private high school graduates include 10 Republicans and 25 Democrats, 15 of whom were raised in the City of Chicago, according to the Prairie State Wire.

The scholarship program allows for donors who contribute to qualified Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) to receive a 75% income tax credit. According to Illinois Policy, the program has awarded more than 37,000 scholarships worth $280 million since it started in 2018. But the program is to end as funding was not considered in the $50 billion budget.

“This is not something that’s been covered by the budget agreement," Gov. J.B. Pritzker said about the program at a press conference announcing a budget framework had been agreed upon. "It’s something that still has time, potentially, but it’s not something that’s in the budget agreement.” 

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.”