I'll try to keep this as simple as possible. Over the last 40 years vouchers have been proclaimed as just the tonic needed to promote school choice and cure the alleged problems with the American education system. Vouchers were to be earmarked to assist private schools.
Many states have said that public funds earmarked for public schools are not to be used to support private education though proponents of vouchers have fought vigorously to change said laws. The federal legislation in the form of the Blaine Amendment finally said 'no' to public funds supporting private education.
The critics found a way around Blaine, they created neo-vouchers!! This is a system where a supporter of private education gets a tax credit on their tax form (which reduces their taxes and the funds the state would receive) and the credit is accrued to a non-profit connected to a private school. The non-profit, in turn provides a scholarship to the private school student of the tax payer who received the tax credit.
No funds are actually moved around in the above system but such a procedure can certainly make it more enticing to send a student to a private school rather than a public one. In my view, just another of the many ways public education can be undermined.
Dick
No comments:
Post a Comment