| Oppose School Vouchers - SB 1932,
a bill to provide a pilot voucher program in Chicago.
March 10, 2011
ACTION NEEDED: Please contact your State Senator today and urge them to vote no on SB 1932.
You can find contact information for your elected officials at: http://www.ilga.gov
TALKING POINTS:
- Vouchers place increased financial pressure on the school districts they draw from and do nothing to address the equitable and adequate funding of education, including special education.
- With school districts already facing deep cuts and some districts borrowing to keep the doors open, vouchers will benefit only a few students while the majority will watch their programs cut and staff reduced. SB 1932 could potentially divert $106 M from Chicago Public Schools -- funds still required to maintain buildings and programs for students remaining in the public schools.
- The goal should be to improve schools for all Illinois’s students. The State should begin by paying its outstanding bills to schools for FY 2011.
BACKGROUND: SB 1932 passed out of committee March 8 and now heads to the Senate floor for a vote. The bill is virtually identical to the one that introduced last year which passed the Senate and came within a few votes of passing the House and being signed into law. In both chambers, Republicans provided the most support. This bill, SB 1932, has a chance of passing.
The LWVIL opposes the use of vouchers. It is the League’s position that public funds should not go to non-public schools. Illinois, with a runaway deficit, continues to face cuts to early childhood programs, an underfunded higher education system and owes state school districts millions of dollars that were appropriated but not paid this fiscal year and which face even deeper cuts in FY 2012. |
