No. 98 The Heartland Plan for Illinois: Model School Voucher Legislation

This policy report describes a model voucher bill, The Heartland Plan for Illinois, drafted by the author with assistance from several others, notably George Clowes and the Illinois Legislative Reference Bureau, in 1996-97. Opinion polls indicate that significant majorities of the American public support allowing parents to choose the schools their children attend without financial penalty. With a major U.S. Supreme Court decision on school vouchers expected in the summer of 2002, now is a good time to ask what an ideal voucher program would look like.