* Tribune…

Illinois could soon opt into the first federal school voucher program — an initiative long-championed by private school advocates and religious conservatives — but Gov. JB Pritzker has yet to weigh in.

Under the program, part of the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act, donors can get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 for giving to scholarship-granting nonprofits. Those scholarships can go to private school tuition, transportation and other education-related expenses. […]

“We will evaluate the issue through a lens focused on affordability for working families and what best supports Illinois students, families, and public schools,” according to the statement [from Gov. Pritzker’s office].

In a July email, however, Pritzker’s office criticized the program, noting that it could “potentially (reduce) state and federal funding for public schools.” […]

“It’s a federal tax credit, so it doesn’t take any state or local resources,” [Andrew Broy, the president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools] said.

* Isabel asked Pritzker about the change in response today. His answer…

Nothing’s changed. We have not seen any rules that have been put out. Remember, the federal government hasn’t put any rules around this program. Those rules when they’re issued, we’ll be able to evaluate whether that’s good for the state of Illinois and the people of Illinois or not. But until we have that right just on its face, the question is, is this just a repeat of trying to take money out of public schools and move it into private schools, which is what the Trump administration, generally speaking, has been in favor of, or is this something that could be useful? But we just don’t know, because there are no rules around it right now. […]

As far as I understood, those rules were supposed to come out before the end of the year. They still aren’t out. So we’ll take a look at those and make a decision then.

* And explanation from the US Departments of Education and Treasury…

• Using the Education Freedom Tax Credit, taxpayers can receive a credit of up to $1,700 for contributions made to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) that would otherwise have been owed to the government in Federal income taxes.
• SGOs then use these funds to provide scholarships to children to attend a school of choice or to access other education-related services and products.
• Scholarships can be used for any qualified education expense of an eligible student, which includes a broad set of expenses incurred in connection with or required by any K-12 public, private, or charter school. Examples include tuition for students to attend private schools of choice, tutoring at public schools, and support services for students with disabilities.

The tuition assistance is available to households with income “up to 300 percent of the area’s median gross income.” The Tribune reported that, in Cook County, kids in households with up to four people with annual incomes as high as $359,000 would qualify for the assistance.