Children in Illinois finally could have the champion they have needed. Illinois public schools, particularly inner-city schools, often are failing, which devastates children in working-class and minority communities.  Young black men, for example, are less likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than drop out of high school and land in jail.

Too many students are forced to attend schools that will not provide a decent education, despite earnest efforts to turn those schools around. Southland pastor and state Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) seeks to change that fact. He proposes that families be given the choice of sending their children to the best schools they can find, even if those schools are private.

The reality for decades has been that parents of every income class use whatever means available to choose a good school for their children. Some rent a truck and move out of district. Others are lucky to transfer into a high-quality public school in their area, often a charter school. In the city, hundreds of thousands use their checkbooks and send their children to private school.

Read more at the Illinois Policy Institute