The midterm election is just three weeks away on November 6th. Here are some things PTA members should know before heading to the polls.

Voter Registration

It is too late to register with a mail-in paper voter registration form for the November 6thelection, but you can register online until October 21st. Illinois also has same-day voter registration, so you can show up at your polling place and register to vote there. That also means that if for some reason your name does not show up on the list of registered voters at your polling place, you can still vote that day.

Issues

Illinois PTA maintains a legislator scorecard for Illinois House and Senate members. You can look up the voting history of your legislators through Voter Voice and clicking on the “View Scorecard” link in the sidebar.

If you have the opportunity to ask a question of your state legislator at an event, here are some that you might want to ask:

  • Illinois passed a new school funding formula last year and verbally (but not in law) promised to increase state education funding by $3.5 billion over the next 10 years. Is the candidate committed to the increased funding and how do they plan to provide it?
  • The new evidence-based funding model that Illinois passed indicates that adequate school funding will require at least an additional $7 billion dollars. Does the candidate support continuing additional funding past the promised 10 years or accelerating the rate of additional education funding to get to adequate funding for all Illinois students and how will those additional funds be provided?
  • As part of the new funding model bill, a new $100 million scholarship fund was created for a five-year period to provide scholarships for students to attend private schools. Limited data from the first round of those scholarships indicates that the majority of those funds are going to students who were already enrolled in private schools. Does the candidate support sunsetting the fund after five years or closing the fund before five years to move the extra funding to public schools?
  • While Illinois has increased funding for early childhood programs in recent years, there are still waiting lists for most early childhood programs across the state. Does the candidate support increasing funding for these programs so every eligible child has access to these programs?

Vote!

PTA’s tagline is “Every child, one voice.” A critical opportunity to use that voice is on Election Day, so be sure to vote on November 6th. And if your PTA does any election-related activities, remember as 501(c)3 organizations, there are limits on what you can and cannot do.