Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Praises Illinois School Funding Compromise
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board released a piece praising Governor Rauner’s historic win to fund Illinois Schools. The bill includes Illinois’ first-ever Scholarship Tax Credit Program to help the neediest children in the state receive a quality education. One outlet has even said Illinois “will likely become the largest blue state to offer private school choice.”
Read some of the highlights from the Wall Street Journal’s editorial below:
Illinois residents have watched for years as their taxes go up while public services and schools deteriorate. But GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner will deliver Prairie Staters some good news Thursday by signing into law an inaugural state private-school choice program.
The Democratic legislature this week approved a $100 million tax-credit scholarship program along with a new school funding formula that provides an additional $450 million for the insolvent Chicago Public Schools. The Governor earlier this summer vetoed legislation that appropriated $300 million more for Chicago schools, but Democrats lacked the votes to override him.
Mr. Rauner demanded a private school tax-credit scholarship program in return for his signature, and Democrats ultimately conceded despite union protests. Illinois businesses and individuals will receive a 75% tax credit for donations that support scholarships for low-income kids to attend private schools.
…Unions howled that the tax-credit program will undermine public schools. But public schools won’t lose any money, and $100 million is a pittance compared to the $8.2 billion the state will spend on public education this year or the $5 billion in income and corporate tax hikes that Democrats passed last month over Mr. Rauner’s veto.
…After the state House approved the tax-credit scholarships, the Chicago Teachers Union declared that the “Illinois Democratic Party has crossed a line which no spin or talk of ‘compromise’ can ever erase.” Sounds like the good guys won for a change.
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