School Choice Programs Get Nod of Approval in Illinois Primaries

Democratic governors across the US are facing pressure on whether to back President Donald Trump’s controversial new federal school choice program, a dilemma illustrated by this week’s Illinois primary election.

Ballots in nearly a third of the state’s counties and a handful of townships asked voters whether or not Democratic Governor JB Pritzker should opt into a federal program that would provide students with privately-donated funds. A majority of voters in all of the 32 surveyed jurisdictions said yes, according to unofficial results available from county clerks on Wednesday. Nearly all of those counties voted for Trump in 2024. ...