Illinois Voucher Program Sends Tax Dollars to Schools That Discriminate Against Disabled and LGBTQ Students
Over $250 Million in State Funds Flow to Private Schools With Discriminatory Policies
Since 2018, more than $250 million has been diverted from Illinois' General Revenue Fund and sent to private, almost all religious schools under the Invest in Kids Act, according to Illinois Families for Public Schools.
Last school year alone, 478 schools enrolled more than 9,600 voucher recipients. These private schools receive public funding but operate with little oversight, transparency or accountability compared to public schools.
Case Studies Show Systemic Discrimination
The Field School in Chicago, located in a neighborhood once served by Francis Scott Key Elementary School, illustrates how privatization results in stratification by race, class and disability status. The school explicitly states it cannot accommodate students with moderate to severe disabilities.
According to Illinois State Board of Education data, the Field School's student body last school year was 27% Black students, 50% low-income and had no special education students. The school received at least $1.1 million in public funding in the last two school years through vouchers funded with 75% state tax revenue. Only half of the vouchers went to low-income students, and only one quarter went to Black students.
Joliet Catholic Academy, which had 27 students using vouchers last year, received at least $346,320 in voucher funds. According to ISBE data, the school was 29% students of color, 4% special education students, and 0% low-income students. Notably, no voucher recipients at JCA last year identified as Black.
The school's policy explicitly limits accommodations for students with disabilities. Their Academic Resource Center states that accommodations that "fundamentally alter the nature of coursework or the materials assigned" will not be provided. This includes reduction in test questions, longer completion time for assignments, and one-on-one educational support.
Public Schools Bear the Burden
All three voucher schools operate in public school districts that are greatly underfunded by the state. The Field School operates in Chicago 299, Joliet Catholic Academy operates in Joliet Township HS 204, and South Side Christian Academy operates in Peoria 150.
Joliet Township High School District 204, where Joliet Catholic Academy is located, is being short about $19 million this year in state funding. The district serves 79% students of color and 58% low-income students. Last year, 14% of students had IEPs and 13% were English language learners.
South Side Christian Academy demonstrates how there are not sufficient financial controls over how voucher schools are spending funds. This school also discriminates on the basis of disability status, as well as LGBTQ+ status, and the racial composition of its staff and board raises questions about discrimination on the basis of race.
Connection to Political Extremists
In April 2023, a slate of candidates ran for school board in Wheaton-Warrenville CUSD 200 who were connected to Christian nationalist extremist group Awake Illinois and funded with a PAC that raised $37,000 for a local school board race. Several large donors to the CUSD 200 PAC were connected to The Field School board treasurer, Phillip Nussbaum.
Calls for Program End
IL Families for Public Schools, along with more than 50 state and local organizations in Illinois, are calling for the Invest in Kids program to end. The argument is that public dollars should support public schools that serve all children without discrimination.
The program was created in 2017 with the intent to provide choice, but critics say it has instead created a two-tiered system where public funds subsidize private schools that can discriminate on the basis of disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, and religion.
Public schools in Illinois can't discriminate on the basis of disability status, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, pregnancy or parenting status, marital status, or religion. But under the Invest in Kids voucher program, public dollars are now going to private schools in Illinois, many of which do discriminate against students in all these protected categories.
The question remains whether Illinois will allow the program to sunset or extend it further, diverting resources from underfunded public schools to private institutions with discriminatory policies.