Published Friday, December 31, 2004 in East Valley Opinions of the Arizona Republic as “Revise the public school credits.” Also, published in January 2005 in the East Valley Tribune.
Education is something we all value. So it’s not surprising that at this time of year we’re urged to participate in the education tax credit donation program. Just two weeks ago on this page, the editorial position of this paper supported the credit. You’d find the same recommendation if you read the Tribune. My kids’ school urges we participate and colleagues at ASU who run support programs at low income schools in Phoenix circulate forms.
In 1997 the legislature initiated the education tax credit, which enables taxpayers to receive a dollar for dollar deduction from their state income taxes for donations for private school scholarships or to public schools for extracurricular activities. The limits are currently $625 for private school scholarships or $250 for pubic schools, if married filing jointly. Much attention has focused on the private school portion aspect, which in 2003 involved nearly $30 million transferred from the state to private schools. For this column, I want to focus on the public school contributions, totaling some $28 million from 200,000 taxpayers.
While funding private school options for parents was the motive behind the legislation, the public school component was added to soothe critics both in the legislature and the public. Now every school and parent with a child in a public school has a stake in this tax credit just as its architects envisioned. Read the rest of this entry »