Could Illinois Be Missouri’s Role Model for School Choice?

Few would have guessed that Illinois would see private school choice before Missouri, but it might happen—and soon.

Illinois may adopt a tax-credit scholarship program this week as part of broader education funding reform. According to early reports, the program would be capped at $75 million in partial tax credits for those who donate towards private school scholarships.

While the plan still has to pass, there are some important lessons here for Missouri: Tax-credit scholarships can be bipartisan and they can help cash-strapped states. In fact, Mike McShane and Marty Lueken found that a tax-credit scholarship program potentially could save the state of Missouri up to $18 million per year.