The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Connecticut can learn from the mistakes of California and Illinois
The governor’s proposed regulations — withdrawn in the wake of a public outcry — mandating only electric vehicles could be sold in Connecticut by 2035 have spurred reflection on the part of many Constitution State residents. Witnessing the destructive economic effects of California’s various environmental mandates has prompted residents to reconsider the wisdom of committing our state to California’s emissions standards.
Connecticut can learn from Illinois, too — especially when it comes to education. In 2017, the state enacted the Invest in Kids Scholarship Tax Credit Program. It provided a 75% income tax program to individuals and businesses that contributed to a scholarship granting authorization. Best of all, it offered a way out of failing public schools for more than 9,600 low-income children who otherwise were trapped in them.
The majority of families with scholarship recipients in the 2022-23 school year had family incomes less than 185% of the poverty level — or $49,025 for a family of four. More than a quarter were below the poverty line. The scholarships made it possible for them to have the educational opportunity and access. And because they were privately funded through tax credits, public schools suffered no reduction in funding; having scholarship students out of the public schools meant per-capita spending would actually increase.
It takes a special kind of callousness for a billionaire to strip thousands of low-income children of the chance for a better life. But that’s what happened at the end of last year when Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his legislative allies killed the scholarship program.
The Invest in Kids program wasn’t ended because the scholars in it underperformed. Shamefully, the Illinois State Board of Education somehow never got around to publishing the legally required annual reports comparing scholarship recipients’ academic performance compared to that of public-school students.
The scholarships certainly weren’t terminated for financial reasons. It costed about $6,000 per pupil; Illinois spends about $18,000 per public school student. The real problem was that the politically influential teachers’ unions lobbied remorselessly against the program, and Gov. Pritzker, who has been touted as a candidate for higher political office, showed little appetite for confronting a key Democratic special interest on behalf of low-income kids.
The stench of hypocrisy is stifling. After characterizing education opportunity as the “choice of racists,” it emerged that Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates enrolled her own child at a $16,000-per-year private school. Nor is she alone. Gov. Pritzker’s own children attended the private Francis Parker and the Latin School in Chicago, both of which cost more than $40,000 per year.
Parents shouldn’t have to be billionaires, like Gov. Pritzker, or earn $289,000 per year like Chicago Teachers’ Union President Stacy Davis Gates, to have the opportunity to find a school that meets their children’s unique needs — or even provide them with a decent education. As a result of the defunding of the Invest in Kids scholarship program, neighborhood
Catholic schools are being forced to close in Chicago’s western suburbs. Many scholars there will be forced to return to public schools. In one, only 9.8% of thirdthrough eighth-graders are proficient in math, and only 18.1% in reading. But they are union-run, and that, apparently, is all that matters.
Here in Connecticut, we can learn from Illinois’ mistakes. With one of the highest “education gaps” in the country between high- and lowincome households, Educational Opportunity and Access Scholarships can offer every child the same opportunity the children of the affluent have: to attend a school that honors his or her uniqueness and enables parental involvement in their children’s education.
The need — and appetite — for these scholarships is great. When Connecticut Center for Educational Excellence (CTCEE), the first statewide scholarship granting organization, launched in March of 2023, response was overwhelming. In just the first three months of its existence, more than 900 Connecticut families applied for scholarships. And modest scholarships of no more than $2,500 — funded by generous individuals and businesses throughout Connecticut — are changing the trajectories of low-income children’s lives.
Gov. Pritzker, his legislative supporters and the teacher’s unions have crushed the dreams of thousands of lowincome Illinois families. But in Connecticut, with tax-credit scholarships that take nothing from our public schools, we can learn from their experience — and make children’s dreams come true.