The program is popular with voters. In May 2021, an ARW Strategies poll showed 61% of Illinois voters approved the tax-credit program, including 67% of state Democrats. Seventy-one percent of black voters and 81% of Hispanics statewide approved of the plan.
The program’s popularity is one reason Gov. J.B. Pritzker has reversed his earlier opposition. He ran against it in 2018 but in 2022 indicated support on a Chicago Sun-Times candidate questionnaire. “With assurance from the advocates for Invest in Kids that they will support increased public school funding,” Mr. Pritzker wrote, “my budgets have ultimately included the relatively small Invest in Kids Scholarship Program.”
So why is the program in danger? The answer, as always, is pressure from the unions that dominate Illinois politics, including the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Education Association and the Chicago Teachers Union.