The closure announcement lists several factors for the school’s decline: Difficulty hiring teachers for lower pay than public schools; declining population in the city of Belleville; and expensive upkeep for aging buildings. Another factor cited by church leaders is the expiration of the Invest in Kids Act, Illinois’ tax-credit program for private school vouchers.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.