A lower county court dismissed the claims. The state's Fifth Circuit appellate court agreed with the county court, saying the credit at issue does not involve any appropriation or use of public funds. Rather, the Act allows Illinois parents to keep more of their own money to spend on the education of their children as they see fit and thereby seeks to assist those parents in meeting the rising costs of educating their children. Maintaining the financial health of private schools is also of importance as such schools relieve taxpayers of the burden of education for private school students. More importantly, the credit is equally available to all parents of public or nonpublic school children.
Funds become available to schools only as the result of private choices made by individual parents.
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