Newspapers Across the

State Support SB2494.

The proposed school voucher program has received endorsements from major newspapers across
Illinois.  Editorial boards in Belleville, Springfield, Bloomington, Rockford and Chicago have all urged the
General Assembly to pass SB2494.

“Public schools would not be hurt

financially and the more options for
“It comes down to a simple question:
families who don’t get the education
What if it were your kid?”
they are paying for, the better.”
Chicago Sun-Times, May 2, 2010
-Rockford Register Star, April 22, 2010

“The state as a whole

would benefit from
improving the education “These vouchers would
system in Chicago. be a win-win-win for
Having a good education students, taxpayers and
system means a lot in public education.”
terms of attracting
businesses or keeping -Chicago Tribune,
businesses here.” April 21, 2010

-Bloomington Pantagraph,
April 25, 2010

“A better education at
an equal or lower cost? “School Voucher Pilot
How could any lawmaker be Program Deserves
against that?” Support.”

-Belleville News-Democrat, -State Journal-Register,

April 24, 2010 April 6, 2010

For more information on this important issue, visit IllinoisPolicy.org.

 Our Opinion: School Voucher Pilot Program Deserves Support
April 6, 2010

State Sen. James Meeks has never been timid or conven- students are being left behind as the General Assembly
tional in tackling his signature issue — improving public endlessly ponders more traditional routes to reform. We
education in Illinois. think the House should approve Meeks’ bill when it re-
turns next week from its spring recess.
On the first day of the 2008-09 school year, Meeks pro-
tested funding inequity at Illinois public schools by busing “Even if we pass a tax increase, that money can’t go
1,000 students from Chicago public schools to the wealth- to schools right away. ... So what do parents ... who are
ier New Trier school district in suburban Northfield. The trapped in failing school districts do while the General
students were not successful in their attempt to enroll in Assembly is trying to solve the education funding?” says
New Trier schools, but Meeks’ effort brought ample atten- Meeks. “I say we use this bill to plug that gap. Let’s give
tion to a state funding system that links a school district’s those parents some relief, at least in the worst schools.”
budget to the property values in its community.
Eligible students would receive vouchers to cover tuition
“I do not believe that a child’s education should be based at a private school at which they are accepted. Average pri-
on where they live,” Meeks said at the time. “We undered- vate elementary school tuition in Chicago is about $3,200,
ucated these kids’ parents, we undereducated their grand- though a voucher could cover tuition up to about $6,100.
parents and now we’re in the process of undereducating It won’t cost the state more because the maximum $6,100
them.” is what the state would be paying anyway.

Effective as that protest was in bringing attention to the Are there kinks to be worked out? Sure. That’s what pilot
issue, it did not result in a more equitable system for fund- programs are for. One of the biggest questions concerns
ing school districts. how a voucher program would affect the already strug-
gling schools. Meeks believes they would benefit from
But a bill Meeks shepherded through the Illinois Sen- smaller class sizes and also because the schools would
ate two weeks ago could have an immediate impact for get to keep roughly $7,500 in non-state funding for each
thousands of students in some of Chicago’s most severely student in the voucher program.
under-performing public schools. By a vote of 33-20,
the Senate approved a plan to give private school tuition What impresses us most about Meeks’ proposal is its im-
vouchers to 22,000 elementary school students at the low- mediacy. The General Assembly has been kicking around
est rated schools in the Chicago public school system. various plans to correct school funding disparity for two
decades. If signed into law, this could get thousands of
The pilot program was a scaled-down version of Meeks’ kids in Chicago into better schools next school year.
original plan, which had called for a voucher option for
students at the lowest performing public high schools as If it proves successful there, perhaps it can be extended to
well. other districts in Illinois that face similar struggles.

To be sure, this is a radical approach, and debate over the Like Meeks and thousands of parents across the state,
voucher concept’s overall effectiveness rages among edu- we’re tired of waiting for the state to fix one of its greatest
cators and advocates for education reform. But we agree inequities.
with Meeks on this one when he says that too many
Our View: More school options needed; vouchers a good tool to have
April 22, 2010

State lawmakers should approve a measure creating a Schools, he doesn’t believe government-supported vouch-
voucher program for students in low-performing Chicago ers are a direction education should go.
elementary schools.
Duncan told a gathering of principals last July that vouch-
We advocate the legislation, which has passed the Senate ers “pull out 1 to 2 percent of children but leave the other
and is pending in the House, at risk of appearing pre- 99 percent to drown,”  a March 3 story in Education Week
sumptuous. Why is it our place to say what’s appropriate said. “As a federal government,” Duncan said, “we have to
for another city? be more ambitious than that.”

Because as goes Chicago, so goes the rest of the state. If The policy institute’s Hitt finds Duncan’s argument
Chicago gets vouchers, more educational options for cities insulting to parents — no matter how many — who are
like Rockford could be as little as three years down the desperate to find alternatives to educate their children. He
road. asks: Shouldn’t we pursue everything proven to work? We
should.
That’s the assessment of Collin Hitt, director of education
policy for the Illinois Policy Institute. Hitt visited the Edi- Besides, Education Secretary Duncan seemed to contra-
torial Board earlier this week and described his organiza- dict himself on National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Na-
tion’s support of vouchers. The institute is a nonpartisan, tion” program Monday. Referring to an unrelated Obama
nonprofit group dedicated to free enterprise and school initiative to improve education, he told listeners, “We have
choice. to challenge the status quo to get dramatically better.”

A decade ago, Hitt would not have found a friendly audi- Vouchers are part of that challenge. And they work:
ence in the Editorial Board. In a 1998 editorial, the board Eighteen of 19 studies that assessed the effect of school
said, “The Rockford Register Star opposes vouchers vouchers demonstrated improvement.
because they take tax dollars from public schools.”
Even strong advocates of school vouchers, though, are
Today, this newspaper believes public schools would not concerned about a lack of transparency that has plagued
be hurt financially and the more options for families who the programs. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Wash-
don’t get the education they are paying for, the better. ington think tank, has long advocated for private school
vouchers, according to an April 1 story in Education
The Chicago program would apply only to the students Week. But Michael J. Petrilli of the institute urged propo-
who attend the lowest-performing public schools. They nents to “come to terms with the idea of accountability
would get a voucher to attend a private school if they for participating schools.”
wish.
In other words, if taxpayers foot the bill, private schools
A community stands to save money on voucher programs receiving vouchers should be required to release the same
because the voucher typically covers only the foundation information as public schools. We are encouraged about
— or state-established base — for per-pupil spending. In the seemingly unequivocable language in Senate Bill 2494:
places like Chicago, it costs many times the foundation “Requires pupils receiving vouchers to be assessed in the
level to educate children in the public schools. same manner as Illinois public school students.” Good.

The Obama administration backs school reforms such Even if communities like Rockford don’t get instant op-
as charters and merit pay for teachers, but it has not put tions from this legislation, they should support it anyway,
its muscle behind vouchers. Although U.S. Secretary of Hitt said. The entire state already pays for the “persistent
Education Arne Duncan was CEO of the Chicago Public failure” in Chicago’s lowest-performing schools. Precisely.
 Time to try school vouchers
April 24, 2010

Good news for people who believe competition is the way public elementary schools. The majority of those schools
to improve public education: Illinois may soon start using have been failing students for more than nine years. If the
school vouchers. program is successful, the hope is that vouchers would be
expanded to failing schools throughout the state, including
A bill, SB 2494, has already passed the Senate and could the metro-east.
be voted on by the House as early as next week.
Parents would get a voucher to send their children to the
This bipartisan effort deserves the support of our metro- public or private school of their choice. Supporters say
east representatives. Sen. James Meeks, D-Chicago, has this won’t cost the state -- the vouchers would be paid
risked the teachers unions’ wrath to take up this cause. He with money that otherwise would have gone to the failing
used to support the teachers unions and public education, schools -- and might even save money. Many parochial
but got fed up waiting for them to stop failing the schools’ tuition is lower than the state’s minimum funding
children. level.

This would be a pilot program and involve the 22,000 A better education at an equal or lower cost? How could
students who attend the worst 10 percent of Chicago’s any lawmaker be against that?
 Try vouchers for students in Chicago schools
April 25, 2010

A pilot program to provide vouchers to elementary will benefit from more students getting their diplomas and
students in the worst-performing Chicago schools is moving into jobs or on to college — rather than into the
worth trying. welfare or prison systems.

Similar programs in other states have shown positive But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
results — and not much else seems to be working in
Illinois. That kind of cause-and-effect impact might be difficult
to measure. But, students participating in this program
The program, approved by the Senate on a bipartisan vote will have to take the same standardized tests as their
and awaiting action in the House, would involve students counterparts who remain in public schools, so the impact
attending the bottom 10 percent of schools — that would on these individuals will be quantifiable.
be about 22,000 students in 48 schools.
Research has shown that such voucher programs not only
Parents would receive a voucher for the price of tuition benefit the students who transfer to private schools but
or the state “foundation level” for education funding — also those who stay in the public schools. The loss of
currently $6,119 — whichever is less. This is money that money from students who transfer apparently motivates
would otherwise go to the Chicago Public Schools system. school officials and/or teachers to improve in ways no
other programs seem to have succeeded.
The average tuition at private and parochial elementary
schools in Chicago is well under that amount, so the Of course, Chicago is not the only place with schools
program would not cost the state additional money and that are failing our children. But it does have the largest
would likely save money. concentration — as well as a sufficient number of existing
private/parochial schools with room to take in these
But saving money isn’t the goal; improving children’s public schoolchildren. Therefore, it is the most logical
education is. place to test the waters.

Although the program would only apply to Chicago Just because we can’t help everyone, doesn’t mean we
schools, the state as a whole would benefit from shouldn’t try to help some who are trapped in the worst
improving the education system in Chicago.  Having a schools.
good education system means a lot in terms of attracting
businesses or keeping businesses here. The House should approve Senate Bill 2494.

If a better elementary education also leads to better results

when students move into high school, the state as a whole
 Limited Voucher Plan Could Help Some Kids
May 2, 2010

It comes down to a simple question: What if it were your efforts to improve. The $3,800 proposed voucher grant,
kid? This page has long opposed school vouchers, instead which would largely come from the state, is less than what
opting to fight hard for better Chicago public schools. But CPS spends per pupil, leaving CPS with extra cash but no
today, we break with that position by offering cautious student to educate.
support for a tightly focused voucher bill before the
Illinois House. CPS is working to turn around some of its weakest
schools, and we don’t see a voucher program undermining
A vote is expected this week. The bill has passed in the that effort. But only a fraction of the worst schools are
Senate. getting real help. Money and support for what they need --
smaller class sizes, social and emotional support for kids,
We’re backing this bill because it could give some kids a strong leaders and teachers -- is not on the horizon.
way out without -- and this is crucial -- hurting the kids
who are left behind. The teachers’ unions oppose the bill, saying they would
consider vouchers only if the state and CPS had properly
Under the bill, vouchers for private or parochial schools funded and supported the schools all along. Sadly, we
would be available only in about 70 elementary schools, don’t see a day any time soon when those responsibilities
for up to 30,000 kids who need them most -- students in will be met. In the meantime, thousands more kids will
Chicago’s 48 lowest-performing schools and in as many as enroll in these struggling schools.
20 of the most overcrowded schools that serve poor kids.
This bill does need one major fix. It originally was
These kids deserve a shot at a better education. A voucher promoted as a pilot program subject to reauthorization
is one possibility, though no guarantee. after the preliminary results were in. That sensible
safeguard has been dropped and must be revived.
The research on vouchers is inconclusive; some kids
do better but many see no change. A study released last The bill should include an expiration date, perhaps five
month on Milwaukee’s large voucher program found years from now, so legislators can evaluate the voucher
that voucher kids did no better than their public school program’s impact.
classmates.
If kids aren’t flourishing in private schools, and if the
No one can point to vouchers as the answer. But for an voucher program ends up hurting the kids left behind, it
individual family, a voucher could be an answer. should be scrapped.

We’re backing the bill for that reason and, most Only a sunset clause will truly force legislators to prove
importantly, because we don’t see a limited voucher this is a worthwhile experiment.
program hurting CPS’ finances, its existing schools or its
 School vouchers vote: House must put kids first
May 3, 2010

Do kids in Chicago deserve a chance to find a better they’re beholden to teachers unions and the education
education? status quo. There are some undecided Republicans, and
some in hard opposition.
Lawmakers in the Illinois House will answer that question
this week with their vote on the School Choice Act. One of the strongest opponents is Republican Rep. Roger
Chicago students in the worst-performing 10 percent of Eddy, of Hutsonville, a legislator and a downstate school
schools and most crowded 5 percent of schools would superintendent.
be offered a voucher they can redeem to pay tuition at
a private school. The program would be managed by Several undecided suburban Republicans will be key.
Chicago Public Schools. Yes, by the public school system. Those to watch: Reps. Sandy Cole, of Grayslake, Kay
Hatcher, of Yorkville, Beth Coulson, of Glenview, Renee
It will be a tight vote in the House because some fierce Kosel, of New Lenox, and JoAnn Osmond, of Antioch.
defenders of the status quo, including teachers unions, are
fighting the bill. We’ll find out in the next couple of days if they, and the
rest of the House, will vote for parents and kids or …
“I don’t think that lawmakers will put the union before
children,” state Sen. James Meeks, the greatest champion Well, we will let Sen. Meeks have the last word on that:
of this bill, told us. “Who’s willing to stand up and say to parents, ‘We
sentence your child to life in failing schools’?”
We hope he’s right. But it will be a close vote. And don’t
think that only Democrats are wavering on this because