Public Money, Private Schools, And Politics

This fall, as students head back to school, millions in taxpayer dollars are being diverted to private schools for the first time ever in Illinois. Last summer, Illinois lawmakers ended a years-long budget impasse after being faced with the daunting prospect that public schools across the state might not open. They passed a sweeping overhaul of public school funding after years of debating the issue. But at the eleventh hour, they also added a massive school choice program with virtually no debate or public vetting. WBEZ’s Linda Lutton explains how this happened and what we know so far.