{"id":38843,"date":"2026-05-22T11:16:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=38843"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:16:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:16:27","slug":"we-will-be-left-out-and-left-behind-senate-gop-urges-action-on-school-choice-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/38843-we-will-be-left-out-and-left-behind-senate-gop-urges-action-on-school-choice-bills\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;We Will Be Left Out and Left Behind&#8217;: Senate GOP Urges Action on School Choice Bills"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Republican Leader John Curran is flanked by fellow Republicans Sen. Dave Syverson and Sen. Jil Tracy as he calls on the governor to opt into a federal school choice program. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Peter Hancock)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pressure arrives as Democratic New York governor says she\u2019ll opt into federal tax credit<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By MARISA GUERRA ECHEVERRIA\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medill Illinois News Bureau\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:news@capitolnewsillinois.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">news@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Republicans are calling on their colleagues and the governor to opt into a federal school choice tax credit program.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nationally, 31 states have done so, with two Democratic governor signaling their intent to opt in.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gov. JB Pritzker has taken a cautious approach in the absence of specific federal guidelines for the program.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SPRINGFIELD \u2013 Senate Republicans on Wednesday called on their colleagues and Gov. JB Pritzker to opt Illinois into the Trump-backed Education Freedom Tax Credit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tax credit, passed under the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/taxpolicycenter.org\/taxvox\/one-big-beautiful-bill-what-we-know-so-far\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2025, is a dollar-for-dollar, nonrefundable tax credit for donations of up to $1,700 to designated scholarship-granting organizations. According to a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ed.gov\/media\/document\/education-freedom-tax-credit-fact-sheet-113147.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">January 2026 fact sheet<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> published by the U.S. departments of Education and Treasury, scholarships may be used to supplement expenses for private, public and charter schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The demand follows a renewed wave of pressure for either Pritzker or the General Assembly to opt the state into the federal tax credit after New York recently became one of the latest states and the second Democratic-led state signaling its intent to do so.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said \u201ctime is of the essence\u201d to opt into the program ahead of its Jan. 1, 2027 deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While any taxpayer throughout the country can take advantage of the tax credit, only students in states opted into the program can benefit from scholarships. According to Curran, delaying the decision means hindering the formation of scholarship granting organizations and losing willing taxpayers in Illinois, which would disadvantage the state in the competition for \u201cfree federal dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey are going to go to other states if Illinois does not opt in,\u201d Curran said. \u201cWe will be left out and left behind.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read more: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/school-choice-option-at-standstill-as-legislators-weigh-benefits-political-fallout\/\"><b>School choice option at standstill as legislators weigh benefits, political fallout<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Pritzker\u2019s hesitance<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The thorniness of the issue for Pritzker and several lawmakers comes from the fact that the IRS and the Treasury Department have yet to release specific federal guidelines for the program, which are expected in July.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a statement on May 8, a spokesperson for the governor\u2019s office said he\u2019s reviewing the federal tax credit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe will evaluate the issue through a lens focused on affordability for working families and what best supports Illinois students, families, and public schools,\u201d the spokesperson wrote in an email to CNI.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While New York Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s spokesperson told <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edweek.org\/policy-politics\/a-large-democratic-led-state-says-yes-to-trumps-school-choice-program\/2026\/05\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Education Week earlier this month<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> she \u201cis supportive of the federal tax credit scholarship and its potential to help New York students and schools,\u201d she also expressed similar caution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOur office awaits information from the federal government on the program and will thoroughly review the details of the policy for poison pills that could harm New York\u2019s education system,\u201d according to the statement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, argued the tax credit could unlock an estimated $1 billion to fund education in Illinois, calling the decision a \u201cno-brainer.\u201d Curran said the tax credits can be used to fund a diverse array of education expenses for both public and private schools, such as commuter costs, after-school programs and support programs for children with developmental disabilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis is a lifeline to those programs and families that are unable to afford those services,\u201d Curran said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond making reference to Polis and Hochul, Curran highlighted the bipartisan <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/my.ilga.gov\/Legislation\/BillStatus?DocNum=3776&amp;GAID=18&amp;DocTypeID=SB&amp;LegId=167091&amp;SessionID=114\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Bill 3776<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to opt into the tax credit, led by Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove. Curransigned onto that bill on Monday, and argued at the news conference that school choice is a \u201cbipartisan concept.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both Johnson\u2019s bill and Curran\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ilga.gov\/legislation\/BillStatus?DocNum=3850&amp;GAID=18&amp;DocTypeID=SB&amp;LegId=167268&amp;SessionID=114\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Bill 3850<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to opt into the tax credit saw a flurry of new Republican co-sponsors this week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Cherry Valley, noted that those who support public schools often also choose alternative education for their own families. The argument to opt into the tax credit, he added, comes from the shared sentiment that all Illinoisans want the best for their children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt just gives families, most of those low-income, the same educational choices and options that educators get, that legislators get, that the governor gets, that we should believe they should get as well,\u201d Syverson said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scholarships funded through the tax credits are available to students from families with incomes up to 300% of their <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ed.gov\/media\/document\/education-freedom-tax-credit-fact-sheet-113147.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">area\u2019s median income<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Skepticism of the bill<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Curran acknowledged that federal guidance has been limited and that philanthropic programs are ultimately the ones that determine their funding endeavors, he argued that it has not stopped 31 governors from opting in or signaling to in-state donors that they will.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skeptics of the bill, among them public school educators, school boards and activists, also have questioned the extent it will benefit public school students, fearing it will favor private schools and lead to disenrollment and defunding in the public school system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tracy said the federal program may benefit private school families who have suffered since the end of Illinois\u2019 former school choice tax credit in 2023, the Illinois Invest in Kids Act. Curran mentioned that overall private school enrollment has also declined since then.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He maintains that the tax credit would not require any state funds or involvement beyond qualifying scholarship granting organizations from year to year, posing no downside to public schools.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s not a family that would qualify on the income threshold, public or private, that would not have some use or some need to be a participant in this program,\u201d Curran said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marisa Guerra Echeverria an undergraduate student in journalism and political science with Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Republican Leader John Curran is flanked by fellow Republicans Sen. Dave Syverson and Sen. Jil Tracy as he calls on the governor to opt into a federal school choice [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":38844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&#039;We Will Be Left Out and Left Behind&#039;: Senate GOP Urges Action on School Choice Bills - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/38843-we-will-be-left-out-and-left-behind-senate-gop-urges-action-on-school-choice-bills\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;We Will Be Left Out and Left Behind&#039;: Senate GOP Urges Action on School Choice Bills - 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