A good investment
A recent letter from an Inverness resident misses the point on the financial value of the Invest in Kids tuition scholarship program. According to the Illinois Policy Institute website, 9,656 low-income and minority students received scholarships in 2022-23. That means Illinois public schools do not have to provide for their education. Cost to educate a student in the Chicago Public Schools is $15,021 per year (communityliteracy.org).
The Illinois Policy Institute lists the average cost to educate at $13,077 per year across the entire state. Using the lower number, the Invest in Kids scholarship program moved 9,656 students out of publicly funded schools and saved Illinois taxpayers $126.27 million in 2022-23 alone.
The maximum amount of annual tax credits that can be awarded to taxpayers for donations to Invest in Kids in one year is $75 million. I couldn't find a statistic on how much was actually credited but, if it cost $75 million to save $126.27 million and provides low-income and minority students the opportunity for a quality education, I want more.
Contact your Illinois legislators now and tell them why they need to extend the Invest in Kids program. It's due to sunset Dec. 31.
Peter Gennuso
Schaumburg