After debate, Chicago school board denounces Trump-backed push for school choice

“Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news. As Gov. JB Pritzker weighs opting Illinois into a Trump-backed tax credit scholarship program, the Chicago Board of Education decided after an impassioned debate to push him to avoid it. The board voted 15-0, with three abstentions, to adopt a resolution Wednesday that denounces the Trump administration’s efforts “to expand and incentivize voucher or publicly funded scholarships for private schools” and criticized private schools as nontransparent institutions. The resolution comes as more than half of U.S. states — largely led by Republican governors — have opted into the new program . Two Democratic governors have also decided to opt into it. It will provide dollar-for-dollar tax credits to donors who give up to $1,700 to scholarship-granting nonprofits. The funds can go toward certain expenses for students enrolled in private or public schools or home-schooled children whose families make up to 300% of the local median income. For a Chicago family, that means earning less than roughly $233,000 a year. It’s unclear if districts can directly benefit from the money. Elected board members Che “Rhymefest” Smith, Ellen Rosenfeld, and Therese Boyle abstained from voting. Smith and Rosenfeld said they felt the matter should be directly discussed with Pritzker and his team, while Boyle is unsure how she feels about the program. Before the vote, board members debated over whether they should take up the resolution or shelve it and discuss the matter directly with lawmakers. Board president Sean Harden, who is appointed by the mayor, said board members could both vote on a resolution and approach the governor’s office for a discussion. “[The governor] looks for leaders to make statements around what their values are,” Harden said. Some left-leaning politicians, including Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, have embraced the program. Pritzker has privately shared with Mendoza his reservations about opting into the program, the Chicago Tribune reported. Rosenfeld motioned to postpone the vote because she felt the resolution’s public nature was “politically motivated.” She said she’d rather go to Springfield to ask Pritzker to oppose the program. Springfield lawmakers have been in session since the start of the year, but the school board has not yet voted on a legislative agenda. “Politics don’t belong in the boardroom,” Rosenfeld said. Elected board member Jitu Brown said he couldn’t “disagree more” with Rosenfeld, that the nature of the board is political, and part of that is debate. “Until we’re able to have honest grown-up conversations about why we have the positions we have, then we’ll play this game (of) ‘I don’t want to do politics,’” Brown said. “If you don’t want to do politics, then you shouldn’t be on the school board.” Appointed board member Debby Pope said indefinitely pushing the resolution back “totally diminishes” its power. Boyle said she’s still unsure how she feels about the tax credit program. “Before being asked to make a decision on this I wish I could hear from the governor and his team – like why is it taking him so long to make a decision?” Boyle said. Several groups, including the Chicago Teachers Union and Illinois Families for Public Schools, have strongly denounced the new program as a tactic to siphon students and funding from public schools and asked Pritzker not to opt in. Opponents have pointed to school choice programs in other states to argue why a program to expand private school access in Illinois won’t necessarily benefit low-income students. In states with universal education savings accounts or voucher programs, a large share of participating students are from affluent families. Many attended private school before the voucher program was launched. There have been some local efforts to push Pritzker to opt in. The libertarian-leaning think tank Illinois Policy Institute pushed for a ballot advisory question on the issue during last month’s elections in more than two dozen counties, most of which are suburban or rural and voted for Trump in 2024. Most voters in those places signaled support for the program. Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

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