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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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As Gaza War Continues, Hamas Calls for Global Protests While Israel Marks Breakthroughs in Medical Innovation
A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
As the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas calls for global protests amid stalled Gaza ceasefire talks, Israel has broken new ground despite the ongoing conflict, achieving a major medical breakthrough in synthetic human kidney development.
The contrast illustrates a stark contrast between the priorities of Hamas, an international designated terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, and Israel, the lone democracy in the Middle East that has long been a leader in tech and medical innovation.
On Wednesday, Hamas urged worldwide protests in support of Palestinians, calling on the international community “to denounce Israel’s genocidal war and starvation policy in Gaza.”
“We call for continuing and escalating the popular pressure in all cities and squares on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday … through rallies, demonstrations and sit-ins outside the embassies of the Israeli regime and its allies, particularly in the US,” the statement read.
The Palestinian terrorist group also called to expose what it described as “the terrorism of the Zio-Nazi occupation against defenseless civilians.”
Hamas’s latest move against Israel comes amid stalled indirect negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal, which collapsed last month after the group vowed it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established — rejecting a key Israeli demand to end the war in Gaza.
In its statement, Hamas demanded the opening of all border crossings to allow immediate aid into the war-torn enclave and urged a global condemnation of “the international community’s inaction on the Israeli crimes.”
Amid mounting international pressure to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Israel announced new measures to facilitate the delivery of aid, including temporary pauses in fighting in certain areas and the creation of protected routes for aid convoys.
Israeli officials have previously accused Hamas of diverting aid for terrorist activities and selling supplies at inflated prices to civilians, while also blaming the United Nations and other foreign organizations for enabling this diversion.
Hamas’s statement also emphasized that the “global resistance movement must continue until Israeli aggression on Gaza ends and the siege on the coastal strip is lifted.”
Meanwhile, as Israel faces escalating hostilities and the heavy toll of war, the Jewish state continues to push the boundaries of innovation and resilience, achieving new medical breakthroughs while confronting ongoing challenges.
In a major medical breakthrough, scientists at Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv University have successfully grown a synthetic 3D miniature human kidney in a lab using specialized stem cells derived from kidney tissue — one of the most promising advances in regenerative medicine.
Dr. Dror Harats, chairman of Sheba’s Research Authority, described this achievement as a reflection of Israel’s leading role in global medical innovation.
“Despite growing efforts to isolate Israel from international science, breakthroughs like this prove our impact is both lasting and essential,” he said.
In a landmark study, a team from Sheba’s Safra Children’s Hospital and Tel Aviv University’s Sagol Center for Regenerative Medicine created synthetic kidney organs that matured and remained stable for 34 weeks — the longest-lasting and most refined kidney organoids developed to date.
Nearly a decade ago, the research team became the first to successfully isolate human kidney tissue stem cells — the cells responsible for the organ’s development and growth.
Previous attempts to grow kidneys in a lab using general-purpose stem cells were short-lived, typically lasting only a few weeks and often producing unwanted cell types that compromised research accuracy.
However, this Israeli research team used stem cells taken directly from kidney tissue — cells that naturally develop into kidney parts — allowing them to create a much purer and more stable model with key features found in real kidneys.
This medical breakthrough could have far-reaching implications, redefining the current understanding of kidney diseases and advancing the development of innovative treatments.
Researchers believe the model could help assess how medications impact fetal kidneys during pregnancy and move science closer to repairing or replacing damaged kidney tissue with lab-grown cells.
The discovery came days after researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and international partners discovered a way to boost the immune system’s cancer-fighting ability by reprogramming how T cells, which are white blood cells critical to the immune system, produce energy.
The researchers explained in a study published in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications that disabling a protein known as Ant2 in T cells greatly enhances their effectiveness against tumors.
“By disabling Ant2, we triggered a complete shift in how T cells produce and use energy,” Prof. Michael Berger of Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine, who co-led the study with doctorate student Omri Yosef, told the Tazpit Press Service. “This reprogramming made them significantly better at recognizing and killing cancer cells.”
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Netherlands to Push EU to Suspend Israel Trade Deal but Won’t Recognize Palestinian State ‘At This Time’
Netherlands Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp addresses a press conference, in New Delhi on April 1, 2025. Photo: ANI Photo/Sanjay Sharma via Reuters Connect
The Netherlands is spearheading efforts to suspend the European Union-Israel trade agreement amid rising EU criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, while simultaneously refusing to recognize a Palestinian state, contrasting with other member states as international pressure mounts.
On Thursday, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp announced that the Netherlands will push the EU to suspend the trade component of the EU-Israel Association Agreement — a pact governing the EU’s political and economic ties with the Jewish state.
This latest anti-Israel initiative follows a recent EU-commissioned report accusing Israel of committing “indiscriminate attacks … starvation … torture … [and] apartheid” against Palestinians in Gaza during its military campaign against Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist group.
Following calls from a majority of EU member states for a formal investigation, this report built on Belgium’s recent decision to review Israel’s compliance with the trade agreement, a process initiated by the Netherlands and led by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.
According to the report, “there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations” under the 25-year-old EU-Israel Association Agreement.
While the document acknowledges the reality of violence by Hamas, it states that this issue lies outside its scope — failing to address the Palestinian terrorist group’s role in sparking the current war with its bloody rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israeli officials have slammed the report as factually incorrect and morally flawed, noting that Hamas embeds its military infrastructure within civilian targets and Israel’s army takes extensive precautions to try and avoid civilian casualties.
In a Dutch parliamentary debate on Gaza on Thursday, Veldkamp also announced that the government would not recognize a Palestinian state for now — a position that stands in sharp contrast to the recent moves by several other EU member states to extend recognition.
“The Netherlands is not planning to recognize a Palestinian state at this time,” the Dutch diplomat said.
“This war has ceased to be a just war and is now leading to the erosion of Israel’s own security and identity,” he continued.
This latest decision goes against the position of several EU member states, including France, which has committed to recognizing Palestinian statehood in September.
The United Kingdom has likewise indicated it will do so unless Israel acts to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and agrees to a ceasefire.
For its part, Germany said it was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term, and Italy argued that recognition must occur simultaneously with the recognition of Israel by the new entity.
Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia all recognized a Palestinian state last year.
Israel has been facing growing pressure from several EU member states seeking to undermine its defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
On Thursday, European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera strongly condemned Israel’s actions in the war-torn enclave, describing the situation as a “grave violation of human dignity.”
“What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death,” Ribera told Politico. “If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning.”
Until now, the European Commission has refrained from accusing Israel of genocide, but Ribera’s comments mark one of the strongest European condemnations since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
She also called on the EU to take decisive action by considering the suspension of its trade agreement with Israel and the implementation of sanctions, while emphasizing that such measures would require unanimous approval from all member states.
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Graduate Student Unions Promoting Antisemitism, Reform Group Says
Students listen to a speech at a protest encampment at Stanford University in Stanford, California US, on April 26, 2024. Photo: Carlos Barria via Reuters Connect.
Higher-education-based unions controlled by United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) are rife with antisemitism and anti-Zionist discrimination, according to a new letter imploring the US Congress’s House Committee on Education and the Workforce to address the matter.
“Tracing its roots to communism in the 1930s, the UE is a radical, pro-Hamas labor union that has a long history of antisemitism,” the National Right to Work Foundation (NRTW), one of the US’s leading labor reform groups, wrote on July 30 in a message obtained by The Algemeiner. “The UE openly supports the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which is designed to cripple and destroy Israel economically. Today, the UE furthers its antisemitic agenda by unionizing graduate students on college campuses and using its exclusive representation powers to create a hostile environment for Jewish students. The hostile environment includes demanding compulsory dues to fund the UE’s abhorrent activities.”
NRTW went on to describe a litany of alleged injustices to which UE members subject Jewish student-employees in the US’s most prestigious institutions of higher education, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to Cornell University. At MIT, the letter said, “union officers” aided a riotous group which illegally occupied a section of campus with a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” participating in the demonstration and even denying access to campus buildings. UE members at Stanford University, meanwhile, allegedly denied religious accommodations to Jewish students who requested exemption from union dues over that branch’s supporting the BDS movement. And Cornell University UE was accused of denying religious exemptions in several cases as well and followed up the rejection with an intrusive “questionnaire” which probed Jewish students for “legally-irrelevant information.”
The situation requires federal oversight and intervention, NRTW said, including Congress’s possibly clarifying that student-employees are not traditional employees and are therefore afforded protections under sections of the Civil Rights Act which apply to the campus.
“These continuing patterns of antisemitism are illegal, immoral, and must be stopped,” the letter continued. “We encourage you to do all that is in your power to investigate and help bring an end to the UE and its affiliates’ nonstop harassment and intimidation of Jewish students … The Trump administration can also use tools available to it under Title VI and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act against colleges who work with unions to create a hostile environment for Jewish students.”
July’s letter is not the first time NRTW has publicized alleged antisemitic abuse in unions representing higher education employees.
In 2024, it represented a group of six City University of New York (CUNY) professors, five of whom are Jewish, who sued to be “freed” from CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress (PSC-CUNY) over its passing a resolution during Israel’s May 2021 war with Hamas which declared solidarity with Palestinians and accused the Jewish state of ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and crimes against humanity. The group contested New York State’s “Taylor Law,” which it said chained the professors to the union’s “bargaining unit” and denied their right to freedom of speech and association by forcing them to be represented in negotiations by an organization they claim holds antisemitic views.
That same year, NRTW prevailed in a discrimination suit filed to exempt another cohort of Jewish MIT students from paying dues to the Graduate Student Union (GSU). The students had attempted to resist financially supporting GSU’s anti-Zionism, but the union bosses attempted to coerce their compliance, telling them that “no principles, teachings, or tenets of Judaism prohibit membership in or the payment of dues or fees” to the union.
“All Americans should have a right to protect their money from going to union bosses they don’t support, whether those objections are based on religion, politics, or any other reason,” NRTW said at the time.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.