Take Action: Stop Private School Voucher Program
4/21/25
Public schools that serve all kids are under attack from all sides right now—including the looming threat of Congress creating a $100 billion taxpayer-funded private-school voucher program. But the opposition of a handful of members of Congress could stop this from happening!
Join us Monday, April 28 at 6pm CT for a virtual phone bank. We'll be calling constituents in Illinois' 12th District to ramp up pressure on their Congressman Mike Bost.
Once you’ve registered, you'll get a Zoom link sent to you on the morning of the phonebank. Then hop on Zoom at 6:00 pm CT on April 28 to meet other volunteers, get a training on phone bank tools, and start calling voters.
Why These Calls Matter
Congress is considering creating a national school voucher program—snuck into a larger bill giving tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy paid for with cuts for everyone else, including healthcare, Social Security and our public schools.
The proposed federal voucher program could funnel more than $10 billion in public dollars every year to private—mostly religious—schools. Private schools can and do discriminate on the basis of LGBTQ+ status, disability status, religion, and more. In contrast, our public schools must educate all kids. But even though 90% of all kids in Illinois attend public school, the majority of our public schools still aren’t adequately funded!
LWVIL supports a strong public education system, and opposes using public money for private school vouchers. Proposed federal tax credit voucher bills HR833 and S292 would provide a huge dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donors to private schools, and for home schoolers, too.
As you likely remember, Illinois just ended a state school voucher program (“Invest in Kids”) last year that sent millions of tax dollars to religious schools that discriminate. Help us stop vouchers from coming back to Illinois via a national school voucher program!
Our underfunded public schools need our support. All children deserve access to an excellent education, to develop their full potential, learn skills to participate in our democracy, enter the workforce, and contribute to their community.
So, we'll be phone banking to constituents in a key Illinois congressional district, IL-12, to urge them to call their Rep. Mike Bost, to ask him to step up and protect the public schools at the heart of the communities in his district. For those of you who live in the 12th Congressional District, please also call Rep. Bost ASAP!
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Search for the League of Women Voters Illinois on the app and click the Join button
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