Thousands of low-income children in Illinois benefit from a state program that gives them scholarships to attend a school of their choice. But in February 2021, the Illinois governor proposed phasing out that program over the next three years.

The Invest in Kids Scholarship Tax Credit Program, which passed in 2017, allows individuals and corporations to donate money to a scholarship program and receive a tax credit of 75 cents for every $1 donated, up to a maximum credit of $1 million. Scholarship money is awarded to families whose income does not exceed 300 percent of the federal poverty level; the average annual household income of participants is $38,000, and 49 percent of participating students are Black or Hispanic. The program offers low-income families scholarship money so their kids can attend the schools that best suits their needs.

The Illinois governor wanted to reduce the current 75 percent tax credit to 40 percent, which he said would generate $14 million in general revenue funds. But doing so would have made the program less attractive to donors and lead to fewer students being able to access it.

To help the low-income families and students who depend upon tax credit scholarships for their education, the Illinois Policy Institute stepped in and told powerful stories of the families benefiting from the program.

SPN: What was your story?

Illinois Policy: The Illinois Policy institute couldn’t let the governor close this program that benefits so many kids that need access to schools that work for them. We released a storytelling campaign to counteract the narrative the governor was selling: Pritzker described phasing out low-income scholarships as closing “corporate loopholes.” The vast majority of the program’s donors are individuals—not corporations—and the people helped by the program are among the neediest in the state. We decided to feature a variety of families who were benefitting from the program to show how choice improves children’s educational options and outcomes, and why it was important to save the program.

Our campaign featured seven families.

The Sniff Family: This family of eight has five adopted children and two children with special needs. When their public-school teachers suggested medicating their children in response to behavioral difficulties, they turned to a private school to give their kids the one-on-one attention they need. The tax credit scholarship afforded this pastor and stay-at-home mom the ability to provide for their children and support their education. Their children have not had one behavioral complaint while attending their private school, and both of their students with specific learning challenges have been able to thrive.

The Smith Family: As a substitute teacher in the public school system, Tracy believed private Catholic school would provide the best learning environment for her two boys. Since she switched them from public to private school, the boys have absolutely loved it and have been able to learn a myriad of different skills including tap dancing, instruments, and Boy Scouts while maintaining a 3.8 or above. When Tracy’s her mom became sick, and funding their education became more financially strenuous the tax credit scholarship allowed the boys to remain in their school. “In the hard times, the tax credit scholarship was there to make it all possible.”

The Clodfelter Family: When Bose realized her children were struggling in public school due to bullying and overcrowding, she and her husband opted to place their children in private school where they thrived, and the family benefited at home from the values taught in the classroom. A couple of years ago, her father was murdered, and her husband lost his job in the same year. The family went through some financial difficulties, but the same year the family also received the tax credit scholarships for the first time. The scholarships allowed their sons to continue their education in schools they love and will fund one son to attend his first-choice high school this fall. Bose believes it’s vital that families are afforded the freedom to select the best learning environment for their children. 

The Collofello Family: Amy, a mom of seven, considers it an important duty to find scholarships and the means to afford a Catholic education for her children. She was raised in the Catholic school system and wants to gift her children the incredible experiences and memories she maintains from her time in similar schools. Having several children at different levels has been financially difficult, some years more so than others. When it came time for their fourth child, Andrew, to attend high school, she and her husband were not sure they should even pursue it because “at that point it was just so hard.” Thankfully, the tax credit scholarship allowed Andrew to attend high school, and this year all their children have been awarded scholarships.

The Plummer Family: As a product of the Chicago Public School system, Syreeta wanted to do right by her boys instead of placing them in a local school system with “outdated books, a lack of materials, oversized classrooms, book sharing, and so many other different barriers.” She switched her daughter to a private school and became president of the parent teacher organization. She was intimidated to apply for the tax credit scholarships because she was not sure they would qualify, but her daughter received a partial scholarship. No mother should have to choose between paying the bills or funding their child’s education. The tax credit scholarship saved Syreeta from having to make that trade off.

The Hendricks Family: As a single father of three, Ed really wanted to prioritize education for his children who were struggling in public school due to large class sizes and a lack of accountability. Since placing his boys in Catholic school, they have been able to thrive academically, spiritually, and personally, learning valuable life skills such as teamwork on several sports teams. The tax credit scholarship has allowed Ed to provide a safe and supportive educational environment for his boys which has “turned [their] lives around.”

The Dvorak Family: Scholarships allowed Scott and Karen to send all seven of their children to Catholic schools which provide an educational environment with values important to the family. Their children were ecstatic to receive the scholarships and transition from homeschooling to in person schooling. The children are all thriving in their schools and the scholarships provide the opportunity for the parents to provide something they consider to be “priceless,” a quality education for their children

And two donors:

Allie Quigley, a current WNBA star relied on scholarships so her and her siblings could attend private school after their father passed away from an early age. She credits this generosity from donors for her current success and gratitude for the experiences she’s had through a Catholic education. She pays this generosity forward by donating to the program.

Kim Brooks, a mother of a student who attends a private school in Chicago. Her and her husband love the specificity of the program and their ability to choose to give to their school because they know it is helping their children’s classmates and friends who otherwise might not be there without their support.

SPN: To whom were you telling the story?

Illinois Policy: Our primary audience was Illinois House Democrats who were in danger of voting to repeal the program, and the Illinois House Black Caucus, who were seen as potential allies for saving the program. The secondary audience was the general public. We encouraged them to contact their lawmakers and save the program.

SPN: How did you find these stories? What platforms did you use to reach your audience?

Illinois Policy: We found this story by sourcing leads from Empower Illinois, another nonprofit research group who supports and runs the Invest in Kids program, scouring social media for vocal families, and by cold calling dozens of partner schools for leads on families who donated to or benefited from the program.

We provided a platform for parents to tell their first-person accounts about how the scholarships affected them and their children who received the scholarships. For some, this meant being able to put food on the table, not having to choose between paying bills or their children’s education, placing their children in a faith-based environment which strengthened their family, or providing special needs students the attention and care necessary for a good education.

For donors it meant helping their children’s friends who might not have otherwise been able to attend the same school or passing along the generosity which allowed a now NBA star’s single mom to afford sending her and her siblings to great Catholic schools.

All of these stories were written up and posted under the “Your Story” section of Illinoispolicy.org, then promoted on social media, including Facebook and Twitter. We emailed and printed out the links to share with targeted lawmakers and ran Facebook ads to draw more attention to the work Anecdotes were included to bolster arguments to save the program through op-eds placed in National Review, Crain’s Chicago Business, The Center Square, and the Madison County Record.

One piece for National Review called out the Illinois governor’s hypocrisy when he called for the removal of a State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction loophole that primarily benefits wealthy homeowners – but wanted to scrap the Invest in Kids Act, which helps Illinois’ neediest families.. In addition, we produced a feature video on the Sniff family that garnered nearly 9,000 views.

SPN: How did the story shape your brand’s image? How did it influence policymakers and the public

Illinois Policy: The Illinois Policy Institute had not written about the tax credit scholarship program since it was enacted in 2017. While we tackled other issues and were considered experts on school-related issues and the state budget, we used this opportunity to align our brand with this program and to ultimately save it.

Standing up on behalf of those in need is part of our mission. Working to save this necessary program was a natural next step for our brand.

Ultimately, this storytelling project helped donors better understand how we were using our resources to help the scholarship program and it helped our audience learn more about the program and why they should support it.

This story also helped position the Illinois Policy Institute as education experts for the first time in years and cemented our image as champions for the underdog, particularly families in need.

Our efforts paid off: The Tax Credit Scholarship tax deduction remains at 75 percent, and the Invest in Kids Act was extended a year to the end of 2023 from its previous sunset of 2022.

The stories helped make the Illinois House Black Caucus adopt the program as a cause for their legislative agenda. And a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in Springfield introduced House Bill 4076 with over 45 co-sponsors to make the Invest in Kid’s Act permanent. This bill failed in committee but shows promise for the next legislative session. In addition, by continuing the program for one more year, it makes it harder for a future lawmaker to permanently sunset it, since a precedence has been set.

When the Illinois governor first mentioned closing the program as part of his Budget Address in February 2021, no media outlet or lawmaker called him out on it. No one else mentioned the harm the program’s closure would do to families or that it wasn’t a “corporate loophole.” But after we wrote more than a dozen stories, more media outlets covered this issue, and more lawmakers stood on the House floor making noise. By the end of session, the program’s continuation was cited as a win by many reporters and political insiders.

For their successful campaign to save tax credit scholarships for disadvantaged students, the Illinois Policy Institute is a finalist in State Policy Network’s Communications Excellence Awards, in the Powerful Storytelling Award category.