Union stymied program

The Nov. 8 Daily Herald reported that seven Illinois congressional Democrats issued a statement urging state lawmakers to end the Invest in Kids program. The statement provided cover to Democrats in Springfield, who let the program expire without a vote, despite bipartisan public support for it. Support is notably high among minority communities.

The statement vaguely suggests constitutional problems with the program because the majority of scholarship recipients choose schools "run by religious groups." Setting aside the whiff of bigotry in this rationale, the high-minded constitutional pose is nonsense. The argument is akin to claiming that college students who obtain government-subsidized student loans cannot attend Brigham Young or Notre Dame. Of course, they can. A constitutional problem would arise if they could not.

The signers toss out the constitutional red herring to obscure that they are doing the bidding of the teachers unions, who targeted Invest in Kids because they fear any competition. That fear is well-founded, given the appalling track record of inner-city public schools. In 2022, only 20% of third- through eighth-graders in Chicago Public Schools could read at grade level. Only 15% were proficient in math. Little wonder, then, that the demand for Invest in Kids scholarships was so huge. Democrats killed the program because they are more interested in preserving a monopoly for teachers unions than helping the poor escape failing schools.

In the wake of this sad episode, I hope for two things. One, that the donors who backed Invest in Kids continue to donate, notwithstanding the loss of the tax credit. Two, that Illinois voters remember how Illinois Reps. Budzinski, Casten, Davis, Jackson, Krishnamoorthi, Ramirez and Schakowsky intervened to help kill a program that offered true educational opportunity to those who want and need it most.

William M. Sneed

Inverness