No matter the name, these vouchers will divert public tax dollars to pay for private schools—which is no good for the public good!

But IL has the opportunity to say no to this program—for the full scoop about the fed voucher program, check out our NEW Q & A: bit.ly/Q_A_federal_vouchers_fall_2025

Share our NEW “What to know about the new federal school voucher program” Q & A with your state representative and state senator and remind them of their duty under our State’s constitution to strengthen Illinois’ public schools: bit.ly/Q_A_federal_vouchers_fall_2025

Illinois is a beacon for defending democracy, and we need to make it clear that we will not participate in a voucher program that diverts billions of public dollars to private schools.

(you need to sit still for tests and test prep, and meds can help with that) but blaming Autism on standardized testing is really nuts.

I wish more people would talk about how testing has undermined education, but they should do it by talking to people who have to spend hours a day in the classroom

rather than address that problem in pedagogical terms (narrowing of curriculum) using qualitative data (parents, students and teachers testifying to how boring school became as a result), it tries to force data about ADHD and Autism into its thesis.

There may be something to that, esp. with ADHD
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Speaking as an educator (teacher and principal), what's frustrating about the piece is that it identifies a real problem - the rise of standardized testing under NCLB and then Race to the Top - which did tremendous damage to students for whom one size did not fit all, but then . . .

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Please help sound the alarm about national vouchers and the grave harms the program would bring to IL's public schools, which serve 9 out of 10 of the children in our state, are currently underfunded by more than $3B, and at risk of losing hundreds of millions more in critical federal funding.

It’s time for our Governor and state legislators to firmly refuse this toxic school privatization scheme for our state. We’ve seen vouchers before here in Illinois and know the harm they’ll do, hurting equity and funding discrimination.

But another method of destruction, pouring taxpayer dollars into private schools through a new federal voucher program (snuck into the “One Big Beautiful Bill”), is around the corner and needs our attention NOW.

They’re deploying tactics to erode public schools like dismantling the US Department of Education, including its Office of Civil Rights, and slashing federal funding.

As the Trump administration continues to hack away at the foundational institutions of our country’s democracy, strong public schools—ones that welcome and nurture every child and young person—are high on the destruction list.

Yes! This also comes up in my recent contribution to CHE:

www.chronicle.com/article/how-...