Poll: Nearly two-thirds of Illinoisans support school choice

New polling shows 62% of Illinois voters support school choice. Also, 59% support Illinois’ only school choice program, the Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which will expire at the end of 2023.

Nearly two-thirds of Illinois voters surveyed support school choice, according to a poll conducted for the Illinois Policy Institute by Echelon Insights.

The poll found 62% supported school choice compared to 28% who opposed it. Parents especially supported school choice, 70% to 21%, while non-parents favored it 57% to 33%.

Carly Hill, of Morton, Illinois, needs the financial help to send her son to a private school to gain the benefits she enjoyed as a child.

“Families are wanting options more than anything else. If he didn’t get financial aid of any kind, that would be our answer and he would go to public school,” Hill said. “It’s simply a perspective or a priority that families can choose things that best fit their individual needs beyond simply what they can afford.”

Echelon Insights polled 800 Illinois voters March 27-29 from diverse areas, political beliefs and backgrounds.

School choice was defined as “gives parents the right to use the tax dollars designated for their child’s education to send their child to the public or private school which best serves their needs.”

Voters were also asked about Illinois’ only school choice program, the Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program. There were 59% in favor whether parent or non-parent.

Invest in Kids was created in 2017 and is funded by private donations which pay for scholarships to schools of a low-income family’s choosing. It gives more than 9,000 families the opportunity to obtain grants so they can afford to send their children to private schools that better fit their needs.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he supported Invest in Kids in a Chicago-Sun Times candidate questionnaire. Invest in Kids will expire at the end of 2023 unless state lawmakers extend the program.