Daywatch: Schools scramble with tax credit scholarships expiring

Good morning, Chicago.

When Cristina Moreno enrolled her daughter, Camila, in kindergarten last year at St. Frances of Rome in Cicero, she felt certain the school would provide a well-rounded education and social environment for years to come.

Moreno, a single mother of two from Cicero, sends Camila to St. Frances with support from the Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program, which she called a “great help” financially.

In the fall, the expiration of the Invest in Kids program left Moreno scrambling to search for other scholarships and financial aid options to ensure that Camila, 7, and her son, Carmelo, 5, could attend St. Frances of Rome next year.

Moreno is one of many parents whose children’s educational future is in limbo following the expiration of the Invest in Kids program, and among the families, both tax credit recipients and full-tuition payers, searching for education options as at least six Catholic schools are set to close across the state.

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Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune

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