Well, it looks like
[Tracy] Edge has reintroduced his failed proposal from last year, which would offer:
* A $1,000 tax credit per child to all families who pay private school tuition, regardless of family income
* A $500 tax credit for home-schoolers
* A $4,500 tuition reimbursement for poor students who leave low-rated public schools
(I’ve highlighted the only part of this proposal that Edge probably even cares about – a $1000 tax credit for rich families who put their kids in exclusive private schools.)
Last time I saw this proposal, I thought it was breathtakingly dumb. I still feel the same way. How is this not simply a free cash handout – with no strings or accountability attached – for private schools?
Poor kids still won’t be able to afford the good private schools, which run as much as $13,000 per year – even with the tuition reimbursement. That assumes that such schools would accept kids from poor families in the first place. If the bill passes this time around, I’d expect to see private school tuition adjusted accordingly – so that exclusive schools stay exclusive.
There’s also the issue of accountability. With a measure like this, we subsidize private schools with our tax dollars. For public schools, we have accountability – even if we’re not always thrilled with the way the state measures school quality. When we give tax money away to private schools, how do we know what we’re getting in return?
In short, how is this proposal a good idea?
Having said all that, South Carolina is behind the curve when it comes to giving tax money away to private schools.
Utah is “allotting up to $3,000 for any public school student to put toward private school tuition”. We’ll see how well that turns out.
