SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Public schools in Illinois could be leaving money on the table, says a leading education advocate, if the state does not opt into a federal education tax credit.

Jessica Handy (pictured), executive director of Stand for Children Illinois, told the District 186 school board at its last meeting the ETC is somewhat under the radar, because when people start to learn about it, “I think they think it’s a private school voucher program, which it is not.” Handy says it gives people a chance to “divert $1,700 from their federal tax liability to a scholarship-granting organization.”

Handy gives the possible local impact as an example. “If we asked our twenty largest employers to include this as a payroll deduction, we could raise $11 million for the district for this.”

Adding her organization has released a report called Flipping the Script to address the ETC, Handy said it’s up to the state to opt in, “and that is a big if,” partly because, she said, local districts are not engaging.