Macon Reporter

A bill creating a voucher system for parents to move their children from closed to open schools was rejected by the House Appropriations — Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.

"This bill would have given parents another lever to get our schools open," legislation sponsor Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) said in a statement. "Every health and education expert agrees that there is no substitute for our children being in the classroom and that opening all schools for full-time instruction is past due."

Caulkins said he is "very disappointed by the Democrats on this committee who have chosen to place their allegiances with groups who oppose this rather than with the children who are locked out of their school."

Those most impacted are "single-parent families and those who are living in underserved areas of our state," he said. "To those families, I promise you; we will continue to advocate for you in the General Assembly."

Under House Bill 273, the State Board of Education would provide vouchers" to the parent or guardian of a student who chooses to enroll the student in a non-public school or homeschool setting if the school district in which the student is enrolled does not offer full-time, in-person instruction in a given school year," Caulkins said. "Also, it provides that vouchers shall be in the amount of per-pupil funding to the district for Evidence-Based Funding and any special education dollars allocated to the district for the particular student, if applicable."

Caulkins attended a rally in Springfield in May to protest Gov. J.B. Pritzker's COVID-19 shutdown orders.

"Every day that we're not here, every day that this state is shut down is another day we go down the tubes," Caulkins said, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Several hundred people attended the rally, with the crowd spilling onto the lawn on the east side of the Illinois Capitol.