IL public schools can't discriminate on the basis of religion, but via the Invest in Kids voucher program, public $$ are funding religious schools. Public funds should be for public schools that serve all children & families no matter their religion. #SunsetInvestInKids
A quick action you can take to help push for the end to the Invest in Kids voucher program -- write to your state legislators: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-y…
More examples of how the Invest in Kids voucher program funds discrimination not just on the basis of religion but also disability status, LGBTQ+ status and more: ilfps.org/vouchers_fund_…
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@louise_q10 Even worse actually—state regs say IL voucher schools *should* comply with "applicable federal & State laws prohibiting discrimination" isbe.net/Documents/425A… so it's possible they shouldn't be violating Title IX, IDEA, ADA, etc ("applicable" wording though makes it unclear! 🫤)
@louise_q10 It is clear that IL Human Rights Act applies to any non-religious schools, so secular schools taking voucher $$ shouldn't be discriminating—but religious schools aren't public accommodations, so ILHRA isn't applicable? (even tho they are taking public $$!) ilga.gov/legislation/il…
@louise_q10 From ISBE: "When you choose to place your child with a disability in a private school, your child does not have a right to receive any of the special education or related services he or she would receive if enrolled in the public school." isbe.net/Documents/nc_p…
Want your child—as Betsy DeVos' lobbyist says—to "attend a quality school that’s religiously-affiliated" in IL using Invest in Kids $? Do they have a disability? Identify as LGBTQ+? Belong to one of dozens of religions without a school? Well, too bad! #VouchersFundDiscrimination
Are you not religious at all? in 2010, largest share of IL pop. didn't belong to any religious group at all; 46% non-adherents acc to Assoc of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (data mapped here from 2020) thearda.com/us-religion/ce…
But 95% of private schools taking Invest in Kids vouchers are religious. Non-religious families aren't welcome at all at many of these schools or have to follow beliefs they disagree with or have their child instructed within a religious environment/system they aren't part of...
Here's an example of how religious beliefs result in discrimination on the basis of LGBTQ+ status. The Diocese of Springfield's policy statement on Gender Identity instructs schools to create discriminatory policies on the basis of gender identity dio.org/wp-content/upl…
These policies are a direct offshoot of the Diocese position on gender identity "A person cannot change his or her gender. A person should accept and seek to live in conformity with his or her sexual identity as determined at birth." dio.org/wp-content/upl…
And they are in direct contradiction to ISBE's non-regulatory guidance, e.g. "Students have the right to be addressed at school by their affirmed name and pronouns and to update their school records to reflect their identity." isbe.net/Documents/ISBE…
ISBE and the feds have had a standard system of 7 mutually exclusive race/ethnicity categories since 2010 (isbe.net/Documents/race…), but the IL voucher program Invest in Kids data that appears in the IL Dept of Revenue's annual report about IIK doesn't use this system
The Invest in Kids reporting has eight non-mutually exclusive categories. You can see them here (& no, this link isn't on a state website bc you have to FOIA this annual report, it's not published!) along with the totals in the categories... drive.google.com/file/d/1D1y777…
Total students receiving vouchers in Illinois in 2021-2022: 9,029 but race/ethnic totals add up to 10,947.
Illinois is one of nine states targeted by Michael Flynn for “election integrity.” Here’s a thread on what this means for democracy and elections in our state & why it’s really disturbing. #twill
Frontline reported on Michael Flynn’s national “The America Project” last month, which brings together “election deniers, mask and vaccine opponents, insurrectionists, Proud Boys, & elected officials & leaders in state & local Republican parties” pbs.org/wgbh/frontline…
“The America Project has given ~$5M to ‘grassroots organizations’ around the country. Many of the groups back what they call ‘election integrity,’ often used by election deniers to justify making it more difficult to vote based on falsehood that American elections are corrupt.”
🎉🎇💯After year of parents, teachers, researchers, & advocates organizing in opposition to proposal to expand state testing to three times/year for 3-8th grade ISBE announced today that they won't be pursuing this! chicago.chalkbeat.org/2022/5/18/2312…
In April 2021, state superintendent had board item for $228M RFP to "improve state assessment" including three tests a year for 3-8th and state-funded optional K-2 testing: go.boarddocs.com/il/isbe/Board.…
We gave comments at the May 2021 ISBE board meeting opposing this: "We believe that the proposed new assessment, if enacted, would wed Illinois to an assessment system that is fraught with problems." ilfps.org/proposed_new_s…