Pennsylvania’s EITC
Spending the weekend in Pennsylvania got me thinking about their Educational Improvement Tax Credit- EITC- program, that has become a model for school choice and has given tens of thousands of PA families access to educational options they wouldn’t have had in the past.
The EITC program was approved by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of the PA legislature in 2001, making the state the first to approve a tax credit for education aimed at corporations.
The PA REACH Foundation (Road to Educational Achievement through Choice) is a great resource for lawmakers, parents, or anyone interested in learning more about the program, how it is set up and how it benefits students and families.
HB 996, the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), provides companies with a 75% tax credit for donations to a non-profit scholarship or educational improvement organization. The tax credit increases to 90% if the company commits to making the same donations for two consecutive years.
The program has proven so successful over the past 8 years, that it has continued to gain bi-partisan support as lawmakers have continued to expand the size of the program, helping more families to access educational options that best meet their needs.
$44,666,667 million is appropriated annually for scholarship organizations, $22,333,333 million for innovative educational improvement programs in public schools and $8,000,000 for a separate pre-kindergarten scholarship program.During 2007-08, 44,000 children across Pennsylvania benefited from EITC scholarships and countless numbers of children in public schools benefited from innovative programs that would have likely have gone unfunded.
Hello, my name is Sekou and I’m a sixth grader at the Nativity School. It is much different from public school and I enjoy going to there for many reasons. One reason is because there are smaller class sizes so you can hear more. Also, there are no girls to distract you or get you in trouble since there are all boys who can play rough. Another difference is that the classes are hard, and you have to study more and if you don’t do your homework, you get detention. Additionally, some of the teachers are nice, especially Mr. H, who talks about football for boys who like sports. I also like homeroom because we talk about sports and can talk to our friends.
Encouraging School Choice News from Arizona
Arizona families got some good news last week as the Governor and legislature took action to protect school choice tax credit programs.
The Alliance for School Choice reported:
School choice initiatives that benefit Arizona’s children and taxpayers were strengthened last night, when Gov. Jan Brewer signed legislation to improve two scholarship tax credit programs.
Brewer signed legislation that eliminated the “sunset” provision on the state’s Corporate School Tuition Organization Tax Credit. Enacted in 2006, this program allows corporations to receive tax credits for donating to nonprofits that offer scholarships so that low-income children can attend private schools.
The legislation also expanded the base of businesses that can contribute to the program by adding insurance companies—which pay premium taxes, not income taxes. This year, nearly 2,000 children benefit from the program.
This is great news for Arizona families, students and taxpayers. Let’s work to have Virginia follow Arizona’s leadership on education reform!
In signing another bill, Brewer allowed individuals to make paycheck contributions to School Tuition Organizations on a weekly or monthly basis—instead of in just one sum of $500. This legislation—which provides more efficient access to education donations for Arizona’s taxpayers—will likely expand the number of donors to the program. The program benefits more than 27,000 children this year.
UPDATED: Some Virginia school choice bills for 2009
The 2009 General Assembly session is in full swing. Here are a few of the school choice bills up for consideration here in Virginia this year. Let us know your thoughts!
- HB 1965 Public/Private Education Investment Tax Credit (Delegate Chris Saxman)
- HB 2104 Students with Disabilities Tuition Assistance Grant Program (Delegate Bill Janis)
- SB 956/HB1985 Autism Tuition Assistance Grant Program (Senator Walter Stosch, Delegate John O’Bannon)
- SB 1221 Businesses; tax credits for donations to nonprofit organizations providing educational funding (Senator Mark Obenshain)
UPDATE: We also wanted to mention Delegate Bob Marshall’s HJ641: School choice programs; joint subcommittee to study programs for secondary school students.
Unfortunately with this year’s budget, it appears that new studies will not be approved, however, we appreciate Delegate Marshall’s efforts to provide the Commonwealth further study and consideration of the benefits and impacts of greater school choice for secondary school students.
We will continue to add updates with any additional legislations.
Education and Presidential Politics
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the candidates’ positions on education and provides this brief summary in “The Election Choice: Education.”
Of note:
Mr. McCain would pursue education reforms that institute equality of choice in the K-12 system. He would allow parents whose kids are locked into failing public schools to opt out, whether in favor of another public school, a charter school or through voucher or scholarship programs for private options. Parents, he believes, ought to have more control over their education dollars.
Sad news
In sad news for the school choice movement, J. Patrick Rooney has passed away. Cato’s At Liberty Blog has reported that:
Rooney, who was 80, founded a trend-setting private scholarship fund in 1991. The Educational CHOICE Charitable Trust provides financial assistance to low income families in Indianapolis who want to send their children to private schools.
Rooney’s model laid the groundwork for school choice programs across the country, and is similar to the legislation that has been introduced in Virginia for the past few years.
This model, in which donors give money to a k-12 scholarship organization, which then distributes it to the families who need it, became the framework for some of the school choice movement’s greatest successes. Today, school choice programs in six states offer tax credits to businesses or individuals who donate to such scholarship organizations (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island).
We join others in mourning the passing of one of the leaders who helped to make school choice a reality for many students, and who helped to influence as wave of change to create more opportunities for students across the country.
