{"id":6852,"date":"2017-07-01T16:31:41","date_gmt":"2017-07-01T22:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=6852"},"modified":"2017-07-01T16:31:41","modified_gmt":"2017-07-01T22:31:41","slug":"vouchers-in-illinois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2017\/07\/vouchers-in-illinois.html","title":{"rendered":"“Vouchers” in Illinois?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Illinois<\/p>\n

As locals know, the legislature in Illinois is knee-deep in negotiations to actually pass a budget, finally taking the task seriously because of the deadline imposed by ratings agencies<\/a>, that is, due to the need to come to some kind of agreement in order to avoid a junk-bond rating. \u00a0Are Madigan and Rauner finally going to make a deal? \u00a0I suppose it depends on whether each of them finally believes they need to give in, in order to finally fix the situation, or whether each of them still thinks they\u00a0succeed in getting the media, and the general public, to blame the other for a failed deal.<\/p>\n

(Note that\u00a0CNN Money<\/a>\u00a0describes this as a problem that\u2019s been building up over the long term. \u00a0I don\u2019t entirely see it that way \u2014 if a Madigan pawn had won election to governor, rather than Rauner, they\u2019d likely have solved the budget issue by now. \u00a0To be sure, they\u2019d have solved it with massive tax increases, but they\u2019d have solved it.)<\/p>\n

But this afternoon, I got an e-mail from the Archdiocese of Chicago, presumably sent to all Catholic school families, encouraging us to contact our legislators. \u00a0The key text is this:<\/p>\n

We recently became aware that there are concrete, productive conversations happening in Springfield about a potential state budget. As part of these conversations, tax credits for students\/families attending Catholic schools has once again become a possibility. A tax credit program in Illinois would represent a tremendous windfall for Catholic school families as well as our Catholic schools. I cannot understate how such a program would positively change the economics of Catholic education!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The e-mail references a site called Illinois Kids Campaign<\/a>, which has precious few details, but seems to be related to a campaign in 2015<\/a> which provided, not traditional \u201cvouchers\u201d but a tax credit for donations to foundations benefiting public schools (e.g., arts funding) and private schools (scholarships for poor kids or schools in poor neighborhoods), with in each case, a cap for the total tax credit available statewide (how that works isn\u2019t clear to me \u2014 at the time of the donation, how would you know if the cap had been exceeded or not?).<\/p>\n

At the time, I had mixed feelings: \u00a0it would be great to give Catholic schools a boost, and, ideally, be a \u201cwin\u201d for the state as well, if a scholarship sends a kid to a Catholic school who otherwise would have gone to a public school at a greater expense (rather than just funding families who\u2019d be sending their kids to Catholic schools no matter what). \u00a0At the same time, though, the state simply didn\u2019t have any excess funds to be doling out.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s even more true now. \u00a0At a time when the state can\u2019t pay its bills, and social service organizations are going without reimbursement for months on end, I\u2019m really shocked that this is coming up again. \u00a0It suggests that, despite the seriousness of this crisis, legislators aren\u2019t taking it seriously, but still trying to gain some \u201cwins\u201d with horse-trading, which, however well-intentioned, is still disappointing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a0Illinois state capitol; https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Illinoiscapitol2.jpg<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As locals know, the legislature in Illinois is knee-deep in negotiations to actually pass a budget, finally taking the task seriously because of the deadline imposed by ratings agencies, that is, due to the need to come to some kind of agreement in order to avoid a junk-bond rating. \u00a0Are Madigan and Rauner finally going […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":6853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[232,11,671],"class_list":["post-6852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-catholic-schools","tag-illinois","tag-illinois-budget-crisis"],"yoast_head":"\n"Vouchers" in Illinois?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As locals know, the legislature in Illinois is knee-deep in negotiations to actually pass a budget, finally taking the task seriously because of the\" 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