芝加哥南区500余人集会：敦促普利茨克让伊利诺伊州加入联邦教育税收抵免
芝加哥——10月4日，500多名芝加哥南区居民在南芝加哥大道的圣灵教堂集会，敦促州长J.B.普利茨克让伊利诺伊州加入联邦“教育自由税收抵免”（Education Freedom Tax Credit，简称 §25F），以帮助家庭支付私立学校的学费及其他教育费用。
集会由主教拉里·特罗特（Bishop Larry D. Trotter）主持，多位南区牧师、州议员候选人及学生家长代表登台发言。主办方表示，芝加哥公立学校的家长最需要教育选择权，联邦抵免计划允许纳税人向奖学金发放组织捐款并获得联邦税收抵免，用于为学生提供奖学金。
这项抵免由今年夏天通过的《大而美法案》创设，是美国历史上首个全国性的学券式教育税收抵免。联邦财政部10月1日发布配套法规后，各州州长须正式选择加入，州内家庭才能使用。伊利诺伊州天主教会议10月2日发表声明，公开敦促普利茨克选择加入。州长办公室回应说，正在全面审阅该计划的细节与对各学区的影响，尚未作出最终决定。
此前伊利诺伊州的州级教育税收抵免“投资于儿童”（Invest in Kids）奖学金项目已于2023年底到期，此次联邦计划被支持者视为其潜在替代方案。
信息来源：美国教育税收抵免联盟（eftccredit.com）、伊利诺伊州天主教会议
500+ Rally on Chicago's South Side: Urge Pritzker to Opt Illinois Into Federal Education Tax Credit
CHICAGO — More than 500 South Side residents rallied Oct. 4 at Sweet Holy Spirit Church on South Chicago Avenue, urging Governor J.B. Pritzker to opt Illinois into the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit (§25F), which would help families pay for private-school tuition and other education expenses.
Hosted by Bishop Larry D. Trotter, the rally featured South Side pastors, state legislative candidates and parents. Organizers said parents in Chicago Public Schools most need education options, and the federal credit lets taxpayers donate to scholarship-granting organizations for a federal tax credit that funds student scholarships.
The credit was created by the One Big Beautiful Bill passed this summer — the first national school-choice education tax credit in U.S. history. After the U.S. Treasury released implementing regulations Oct. 1, each state's governor must formally opt in before families can use it. The Catholic Conference of Illinois issued an Oct. 2 statement publicly urging Pritzker to opt in. The Governor's office responded that it is thoroughly reviewing the program's details and its impact on school districts and has not made a final decision.
Illinois's own state-level education tax credit, the "Invest in Kids" scholarship program, expired at the end of 2023; supporters see the federal program as a potential replacement.
Sources: Educational Freedom Tax Credit Coalition (eftccredit.com); Catholic Conference of Illinois
图片来源：图：伊利诺伊州州长普利茨克本人出席公开活动。摄影：Paul Goyette，CC BY 4.0，取自 Wikimedia Commons
