By Paul Vallas

June 3^rd, 2026

With Mayor Brandon Johnson now joining Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis‑Gates and Vice President Jackson Potter in attacking Gov. J.B. Pritzker — calling him an “out‑of‑touch billionaire” and worse — will he have the courage to opt Illinois into the federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program that they oppose? That would be payback: sign on to a program the union vehemently opposes which would provide low‑ and middle‑income families with real money to improve their children’s education.

Davis‑Gates has been a relentless critic. During Pritzker’s vetting for a possible vice‑presidential pick, she questioned his commitment to public‑school children — particularly Black children — saying he was “continuing the tradition of denying funding for Black, brown, working‑class and immigrant kids in Illinois’ largest school district.”

Jackson Potter has repeatedly accused the governor’s administration of protecting billionaires and offering large corporate tax breaks while classrooms go wanting. Mayor Johnson has joined those critiques and added a personal swipe: he said the billionaire governor “doesn’t know what it’s like to open a refrigerator and, ain’t no food in it.

CTU leadership’s demands center on securing the funding to cover the union’s new contract; they have sought roughly $1.6 billion in additional state aid for Chicago Public Schools. The governor rejected that demand, saying the state cannot responsibly rewrite the school‑aid formula to cover such a massive recurring increase without adding almost $7 billion to the formula overall.

Pritzker and others note that CPS received about $2.8 billion in one‑time federal COVID relief (ESSER) and that much of those funds were used to hire over 9,000 full‑time positions while enrollment fell between 45,000 and 70,000 since 2019, depending on which metrics you use — an 11 percent decline from pre‑pandemic levels. Critics argue that committing one‑time federal dollars to ongoing personnel costs worsened the district’s structural budget pressures.

On school spending, Illinois ranks among higher‑spending Midwestern states. Depending on the measure used, Illinois moved from roughly 18th to somewhere between 8th and 11th in per‑pupil spending in recent years, and statewide per‑pupil spending can exceed neighboring states by a wide margin in percentage terms. Chicago Public Schools now registers among the highest per‑pupil spending levels of large urban districts — CPS’s reported total per‑pupil spending is over $32,000, with a 44 percent increase in per‑pupil funding since 2019.

Governor Pritzker has reason to feel frustrated, if not betrayed. He has repeatedly supported legislative actions that strengthened the CTU’s position in Chicago education policy. Those actions included the following:

– Restoring the CTU’s bargaining rights — in 2021 most importantly their ability to strike for any reason.

– Delaying the move to a fully elected school board, which gave the mayor and allied interests time to consolidate influence while Mayor Johnson was in office.

– Eliminating the independent State Charter Commission, which authorized, abdicated for, and protected public charter schools.

– Enacting the charter neutrality law that not only opened the door but promoted the CTU’s unionization of charter school teachers and staff.

– Not attempting to prevent the expiration of the Invest in Kids scholarship program that he claimed he supported — a program that served more than 9,000 mostly low‑income children.

Pritzker is responsible for dramatically strengthening the CTU’s monopoly over education in Chicago while strengthening the union’s ability to hold the school district and elected officials hostage to its demands. The city’s caving to CTU school‑closing demands, which kept school campuses closed for 78 consecutive weeks with devastating consequences, was a demonstration of the destructive consequences of the union’s empowerment by Pritzker.

If the governor wants to send a message to the CTU and to his hand‑picked mayor — and to actually help families — he should opt Illinois into the federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program. That program offers a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 annually for contributions to accredited Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs), which then make private grants to public, private, and homeschooling families for K–12 education supports. A recent Illinois Policy Institute survey showed over 63 percent support for participating.

Financial support includes not only tuition assistance but also support for tutoring, early childhood programs, therapies, textbooks, internet access, technology, and more. Nonpartisan estimates suggest as much as $900 million could be available for families in Illinois alone. Former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called the federal education scholarship tax credit a “no‑brainer” and a “moral obligation” to help the students furthest behind.

Critics claim such programs funnel public dollars into private schools or support discriminatory institutions. Supporters respond that the legislation — and likely state implementing rules — can and would allow states to set eligibility requirements for participating schools and to require non‑discrimination and transparency. That technical detail matters: states can design guardrails so scholarship dollars meet oversight standards similar to those for other education programs.

If Illinois declines to participate, Illinois taxpayers who claim the federal tax credit on their returns would likely direct donations to SGOs in participating states. In that outcome, Illinois families would lose out while their neighbors benefited. If the governor wants to shift the balance of power and give families more options — not less — he can act now. Duncan and other prominent Democrats have urged Democratic leaders to reconsider opposition and embrace the program as a supplement to traditional public education.

Let’s be blunt: CTU leadership, like other powerful teacher unions nationally, opposes choice programs even when those programs would put dollars directly into the hands of low‑income families who remain in public schools or use funds for supplemental supports. If Gov. Pritzker wants to show he is serious about helping the neediest children and willing to stand up to his union allies when policy — not politics — demands it, opting into the federal tax‑credit scholarship program would be direct, consequential, and politically bold.

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Paul Vallas formerly ran the public school systems in Chicago, Philadelphia and the Louisiana Recovery School District. He was a candidate for Mayor of Chicago.