McHenry Times

Veteran state Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) is crisscrossing the state in a campaign aimed at eliminating the sunset of the Invest in Kids Program.

“Four or five years ago, I was very honored to be one of the legislators working on school funding reform,” McConchie said in a video posted to YouTube. “I was in the room when I said we cannot pass school funding reform unless we provide real choice for kids across the state who are in failing schools that they have the opportunity to leave and go to a school of their choice.”

McConchie sought to remind supporters that their mission is to keep Invest in Kids as an option.

“That is the reason we’re here today, to fight to keep this program in place” he added. “There are a lot of people in this building that don’t think you should have a choice, including the governor who has said he doesn’t believe in this program.”

Enacted by the Rauner administration, Invest in Kids has recently become a target of the Pritzker administration, despite it having received bipartisan support when it was introduced.  

McConchie and other GOP lawmakers don’t see the logic.

“The Invest in Kids scholarship program is a remarkable tool that allows low-income families to have additional education choice,"  state Rep. Tom Demmer  (R-Dixon) recently said in a speech from the House floor. "Think about the tens of thousands of students who are on waiting lists hoping to one day get access to these scholarships that provide them opportunities that financially their families would not otherwise be able to offer."

Pritzker previously targeted the program in 2019, but its popularity among students and parents was a big factor in keeping it afloat. “Since his most recent announcement, Empower Illinois recently told The Center Square it has received almost 7,000 letters from supporters wanting to see it remain an option.

“Eliminate the sunset on this program so we can keep it going forward as long as we can get it to go,” McConchie added.