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Illinois tax credit program for private schools set to end, upsetting Jewish advocates
(JTA) – For the last five years, thousands of Jewish children in Illinois and their families have taken advantage of a state program that lets them defray the cost of private Jewish schools.
Now, those families could see their payments rise after state lawmakers allowed the tuition tax credit program to expire, with little clarity about whether it could resume in the future.
The demise of Illinois’ “Invest in Kids” program points to deep and lasting political divides over the propriety of redirecting public funding for education toward private and religious institutions. The lapse of the program is drawing criticism from Jewish leaders in the state, including some who initially did not go to bat for it.
“There are a wide variety of opinions on the use of these kinds of programs and public funding for private schools, which was the reason we stayed out,” said Dan Goldwin, executive director of public affairs at the Jewish United Fund, Chicago’s Jewish federation. But he said now that he’s seen the benefits, he’s feeling “profound disappointment on behalf of a whole bunch of families and students” about the program’s end.
Invest in Kids, launched in 2018, has given private donors hefty tax breaks if they contribute to a private school scholarship fund for children from low-income families. The program’s proponents said it would give families education options they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford; its critics argued that it would inappropriately deplete the state’s tax revenue.
The program lapsed on Nov. 10 after state lawmakers ended their legislative activity for the year without calling it to a vote, allowing it to expire at the end of December.
The step away from public funding for religious schools in Illinois, which is led by Democrats, comes as other states are moving in the opposite direction. Earlier this year, Orthodox Jewish groups celebrated a new Florida state law that allowed private and religious school students in the state to access up to about $8,000 per year in state education funds.
The Illinois program, too, was beloved by Orthodox Jews, who almost universally send their children to Jewish schools and frequently bear a significant tuition burden, especially if they have larger families. But Jewish advocates for the program say non-Orthodox day schools benefitted, too.
Based on self-reported data from some of the scholarship-granting agencies, at least 1,400 Jewish day school students of all backgrounds and denominations used the program in the 2022-23 school year. Under the program, since 2018, between $40 to 60 million has flowed to Jewish day schools from scholarship funds.
The state’s chapter of Agudath Israel, an Orthodox advocacy group that has been active in pushing for tuition tax credits in multiple states, joined Catholic groups in advocating for the program at the statehouse in Springfield. Now, the group says it is “deeply disappointed” in the legislature for failing to advance the bill.
“The program has been transformative for tens of thousands but I don’t know if everyone initially appreciated how impactful it would be for the Jewish community,” Rabbi Shlomo Soroka, director of government affairs for Agudath Israel of Illinois, told JTA. “It has been a lifeline for thousands of Jewish families.”
In general, research shows that tax-credit programs typically benefit families that are already using private schools, rather than opening doors that would otherwise be closed to low-income students.
JUF did not take a position on the program when it was first enacted six years ago, although it did alert Jewish families to the program’s existence. Godwin said the federation did not typically sound off on “tax-related issues,” and that he was worried that the tax revenue lost as a result of the program could hurt state funding for other social services. But the organization began backing Invest in Kids in 2021 as more Jewish students and day schools benefited from it.
When the legislature reconvenes in January, Goldwin hopes there might be an opportunity to renew calls for a program extension, or, failing that, a “soft landing” that would prevent disruption to students benefitting from the program midway through the academic year.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish, has indicated his willingness to sign such a compromise. But a spokesperson for the state’s House speaker, Emanuel Chris Welch, told reporters that he never called a vote for the bill because there was simply not enough support from either side of the aisle.
Public school advocates celebrated the program’s end, with the head of the state’s teachers union saying, “Illinois lawmakers chose to put our public schools first.”
Some of the program’s proponents told JTA that it was especially important to maintain in light of increased antisemitism and anti-Israel activity in public education spaces since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. A handful of teachers unions across the country, including in Oakland and Minneapolis, have put out statements about the conflict that Jewish groups have considered antisemitic. Chicago’s teachers union has not.
Still, some local Jews said the current moment has shown how important it is for Jewish students to attend Jewish schools.
“Even secular Jewish kids have a better shot at identifying as proudly Jewish and pro-Israel if they attend a Jewish day school,” said Rabbi Menachem Levine, head of the Orthodox Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov-Yeshivas Tiferes Tzvi in Chicago, the largest Jewish day school in the Midwest. “But that’s not an option for Jews who aren’t well-off.”
The Jewish leaders said they were galled that none of the Jewish lawmakers in the Springfield statehouse supported the bill. “We are especially disappointed in those state lawmakers that represent portions of our Jewish community who refused to support our efforts, or were even obstructive,” Agudath Israel said in a statement bemoaning the end of the program.
The Illinois Legislative Jewish Caucus has 15 members across both chambers of the state assembly. An informal leader for the group, Rep. Bob Morgan, who represents the northern suburbs of Chicago, declined to comment to JTA.
While Goldwin wants to see the program resurrected, he said he wouldn’t cite antisemitism in public schools as a factor.
“The impact of antisemitism in schools and elsewhere is profound regardless of the scholarship situation,” he said. “I’m not frankly aware of a mass exodus out of the public schools because of antisemitism.”
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The post Illinois tax credit program for private schools set to end, upsetting Jewish advocates appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Ilhan Omar Slapped With Ethics Complaint From Conservative Watchdog Over Holding Rally With Ex-Somali PM
US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) participates in a news conference, outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 10, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Jim Bourg
US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has been slapped with an ethics complaint by the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a conservative watchdog group, for holding an event with former Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire.
Last weekend, Khaire took the stage with Omar in support of her reelection campaign. AAF argued Khaire’s presence at Omar’s campaign rally constituted a violation of the US Federal Election Campaign Act and demanded the congresswoman step down from office.
“We are deeply concerned by Ilhan Omar’s illegal campaign rally with the former prime minister of Somalia. Omar already has a long history of statements indicating her disdain for America and allegiance to Somalia, but this goes beyond statements,” the AAF wrote.
“Now her campaign has taken action to involve a foreign leader in an American election. She must resign immediately and return every dollar raised for her at this disgraceful rally,” the watchdog continued.
The organization argued Omar potentially committed two infractions against the Federal Election Campaign Act.
First, AAF alleged that the congresswoman “knowingly accepted former Somalia Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire’s services at her campaign events.” They asserted this action exceeded the “limited volunteer services permitted by a foreign national and involves impermissible decision-making.”
Second, the watchdog claimed that Khaire was possibly “compensated by a prohibited source.” The organization suggested that Ka Joog, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that focuses on “empowering Somali American youth,” organized and funded Khaire’s trip to America. AAF argued that Omar likely “knowingly accepted a corporate contribution associated with Mr. Khaire’s travel and lodging costs” with the goal of boosting voter turnout among Minnesota’s Somali-American community.
During Omar’s campaign rally in Minnesota last weekend, Khaire gave an impassioned speech, urging the audience to vote for the congresswoman.
“Support her with your votes, tell your neighbors and friends, and anyone you know to come out and support Ilhan Omar,” Khaire said. “And knock on every door you can so that she can be re-elected.”
Khaire then added, “Ilhan’s interests aren’t those of Minnesota or the American people but those of Somalia.”
“No one is above the law — even members of the Squad” of far-left lawmakers in the US House, AAF president Thomas Jones wrote in a statement. “Not only were Khaire’s comments about Omar deeply disturbing, but the rally was also a blatant violation of US election laws. Omar must resign immediately and return every dollar raised by Khaire for her campaign.”
Omar’s campaign counsel David Mitrani denied that the congresswoman violated any elections laws.
“This ethics complaint is another attempt by the far-right to smear the congresswoman,” Mitrani told the New York Post.
“Congresswoman Omar’s campaign had absolutely no involvement in requesting, coordinating, or facilitating Mr Khaire’s appearance or his comments, and accordingly there was no violation of law,” he continued.
Khaire’s claim that Omar’s “interests” are with Somalia rather than the American people raised eyebrows, with critics pointing out that she has previously criticized the American Jewish community for supposedly maintaining “allegiance” to the government of Israel.
“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” Omar said during a 2019 speech in reference to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying organization aimed at fostering a closer US-Israel relationship.
“Accusing Jews of harboring dual loyalty has a long, violent, sordid history,” said Steve Hunegs, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, in response to Omar’s comments.
During her five-year stretch as a US representative, Omar has emerged as one of Israel’s fiercest critics, repeatedly accusing the Jewish state of enacting “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing” against Palestinians. She has supported the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, an initiative which seeks to economically punish and isolate the Jewish state as the first step toward its elimination.
The congresswoman came under fire after waiting a whole two days to comment on Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of over 1200 people across southern Israel. Despite slow-walking a condemnation of Hamas’ atrocities, she was one of the first congresspeople to call for Israel to implement a “ceasefire” in the Gaza strip.
Omar enraged both Democratic and Republican lawmakers after she referred to Jewish college students as being either “pro-genocide or anti-genocide” while visiting Columbia University in April.
The post Ilhan Omar Slapped With Ethics Complaint From Conservative Watchdog Over Holding Rally With Ex-Somali PM first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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California Jury Convicts Neo-Nazi Who Brutally Murdered Gay Jewish Teenager
Samuel Woodward, recently convicted of the hate crime murder of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, a gay Jewish teenager from California. Photo: Orange County Sheriff’s Office
A jury in Orange County, California on Wednesday convicted a neo-Nazi of the hate-crime murder of a gay Jewish teenager he lured to the woods under the false pretense of a furtive hook-up.
According to court documents, Samuel Woodward — a member of the Neo-Nazi group the Atomwaffen Division — stabbed 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student Blaze Bernstein over two dozen times in 2018 after pretending in a series of Tinder messages to be interested in a first-time homosexual encounter.
Bernstein was unaware of Woodward’s paranoiac and hateful far-right ideology, however. The now 26-year-old Woodward had withdrawn from college to join the Atomwaffen Division — whose members have been linked to several other murders, including a young man who killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents — idolized Adolf Hitler, and would spend hours on Grindr searching for gay men to humiliate and “ghost,” ceasing all contact with them after posing as a coquettish “bicurious” Catholic.
“I tell sodomites that I’m bi-curious, which makes them want to ‘convert’ me,” Woodward said in his diary quoted by The Los Angeles Times. “Get them hooked by acting coy, maybe then send them a pic or two, beat around the bus and pretend to tell them that I like them and then kabam, I either un-friend them or tell them they have been pranked, ha ha.”
In another entry, Woodward wrote, “They think they are going to get hate crimed [sic] and it scares the s— out of them.”
On the day of the killing, Woodward agreed to drive Bernstein to Borrego Park in Foothill Ranch, where he stabbed him as many as 30 times and buried him in a “shallow grave,” according to various reports. He never denied his guilt, but in court his attorneys resorted to blaming the crime on his being diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and feeling conflicted about his sexuality, LA Times reported. As the trial progressed, his attorneys also made multiple attempts to decouple Woodward’s Nazism from the murder, arguing that it was not a hate crime and that no mention of his trove of fascist paraphernalia and antisemitic and homophobic views should be uttered in court.
“No verdict can bring back Blaze. He was an amazing human and humanitarian and a person we were greatly looking forward to having in our lives, seeing wondrous things from him as his young life unfolded” the family of the victim, who has been described by all who knew him as amiable and talented, said in a statement shared by ABC News. “From this funny, articulate, kind, intelligent, caring, and brilliant scientist, artist, writer, chef, and son, there will never be anyone quite like him. His gifts will never be realized or shared now.”
With Wednesday’s guilty verdict, Woodward may never be free again. He faces life in prison without parole at his sentencing on Oct. 25.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post California Jury Convicts Neo-Nazi Who Brutally Murdered Gay Jewish Teenager first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Opinion: The folly of pro-Palestinian protesters screaming at Jewish teenage girls playing softball in Surrey, B.C.
Did the protesters even realize who would be on the field when they showed up?
The post Opinion: The folly of pro-Palestinian protesters screaming at Jewish teenage girls playing softball in Surrey, B.C. appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.