By The Editorial Board | The Wall Street Journal
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democrats in the Legislature killed the Invest in Kids scholarship program last year, blocking money for more than 9,000 low-income students to escape failing public schools. Now comes the second wave of destruction as the schools that welcomed the scholarship students are beginning to close.
On Thursday two Catholic schools in Chicago’s western suburbs announced they are shutting down. St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero and St. Odilo School in Berwyn said that the 164 Invest in Kids scholarship students between them represented more than half of the schools’ enrollment. Without them, the schools no longer have enough students to keep their doors open.
In a statement on Thursday, the Archdiocese of Chicago said Catholic schools in the Windy City are facing a “financial cliff” after the loss of Invest in Kids. “We are doing all that we can to keep our schools open,” Catholic schools superintendent Greg Richmond said, but “these may not be the last closures in our archdiocese.”
On Friday Notre Dame Academy in Belleville announced that it’s closing, despite “devoted labor” aimed at boosting enrollment and raising funds. The school cited the financial hardships of aging buildings and the fact that the state discontinued Invest in Kids “that benefitted our school, especially those with financial need.”
Read more here.
This is going to turn into a nightmare for Gov JB. He’s just not that bright and doing CTU’s bidding is going to cost him I think.