Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - Spring 2009 Education Guide - Index

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tax credits
give new
students
options
Philadelphia Tribune
Page 5
A growing number of legislators
and policy makers are
taking a closer look at an innovative
scholarship program
designed to provide
parents and children with a
wider range of educational
options.
In general, these programs
are known as tax credit
scholarships. According to
the Indianapolis-based
Friedman Foundation for Educational
Choice, these tax
credit programs currently
aid over 60,000 students
with tuition scholarships
that allow them to attend the
school of their choice.
Here’s how they work:
Individuals and/or corporations
receive a tax credit
for making donations to private
charitable organizations,
which use the money
to fund scholarships for students.
These scholarships
can cover the cost of private
school tuition, tutoring and
transportation.
Arizona, Florida and Pennsylvania
have the oldest programs,
and Iowa, Georgia
and Louisiana have newer efforts.
In those states, Scholarship
Granting Organizations
(SGO’s) provide students
with tuition scholarships.
In Georgia, which has become
a leader in the school
choice movement, a new tax
credit program enacted in
2008 provides corporations
and individuals with a dollar-for-dollar
tax credit for
donations to scholarship organizations
that help children
transfer from public to
private schools.
Other states have similar
structures. Arizona has a
personal and corporate tax
credit program for donations.
Robert Enlow, president
and CEO of the Friedman
Foundation, says that tax
credit programs provide parents
with additional options
in the education of their children.
“One thing is clear:
Parents are clamoring for
more choices; one size does
not fit all in the education
arena.”
Enlow offers these tips for
designing a tax credit scholarship
program:
• Scholarships should be
available to a broad range of
children.
• All taxpayers should be
able to participate.
• Tax credits should be
dollar for dollar.
• SGOs should be subject
to reasonable regulations.
• Participating schools
should also be subject to
reasonable regulations.
• Applying for a tax credit
or for a scholarship
should be as simple as possible.
For more information on
tax credit scholarship programs,
contact the Friedman
Foundation for Educational
Choice at (317) 681-0745 or
www.friedmanfoundation.org
Tax credit scholarships
can be used to cover the
cost of private school tuition,
tutoring and transportation.
— (NAPS)