South Cook News

The president of Brother Rice High School sent an email to the school’s supporters this week asking for “support in ‘removing the sunset’ provision for the Illinois Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship (TCS) program.”

“When the Invest in Kids Act passed in 2017, it created the TCS (Tax Credit Scholarship program) as a five-year pilot program,” wrote Mark Donahue, who has been president of the high school since December 2018. “This program allows donors to receive a 75% tax credit for every $1 donated. These donations are distributed to qualified families. The recipient families attend private schools and Brother Rice is a strong participant in this program. However, it will end in 2023 if not extended again or made permanent.”

Donahue’s email said that “67% of recipients also qualify for the federal free or reduced-price meal program and “one in nine scholarship recipients is a unique learner (special education needs, gifted or English language learner).”

He also wrote, “The average family household income of a scholarship recipient is $45,046, or 170% of the federal poverty level. This program allows recipients to attend Brother Rice!”

The program has been responsible for “40,000+ scholarships totaling over $300 million," wrote Donahue. 

“Locally, at Brother Rice High School, the program has been responsible for giving the gift of a Brother Rice experience to over 100 young men,” he wrote. “Invest in Kids TCS has provided over $1.3 Million dollars to our students.”

Donahue, a 1974 graduate of Brother Rice, was a regional vice president with Anthem immediately prior to becoming the president of the school. He attended the University of Michigan, where he was a consensus football All-American at offensive guard in 1976. He played for the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League from 1978 to 1979. 

In addition to Donahue, notable Brother Rice alumni include actor John C. Reilly, Kevin Cronin, the lead singer of REO Speedwagon, and Irish dancer Michael Flatley, creator of the “Lord of the Dance” Irish dance show and choreographer of “Riverdance.”

Brother Rice is a Catholic all-boys high school located on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois. The school was founded in 1956 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and is named after their founder, Edmund Ignatius Rice. With an enrollment of over 700 students, Brother Rice offers a college preparatory curriculum that includes honors and advanced placement courses, as well as a wide range of extracurricular activities, including athletics and the arts.