Proponents rally for tax credits funding private school scholarships

With BC-CNS-Tuition Credits-Box

Photos Available (thumbnails, captions below)

By STEVEN FALKENHAGEN
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Tuesday, Feb. 10) _ Hundreds of students, teachers and parents descended Tuesday on the State Capitol to support tax credits that help students from low-income families attend private schools.     Proponents said the state’s budget crisis has put those credits in jeopardy.

Arizona allows a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $1,000 for married couples and $500 for individuals for donations to nonprofit organizations that fund private-school scholarships. A similar credit is available for donations for public-school extracurricular activities.

“This is the only way I can go to a Christian school is with this program,” said Kendrick Plunk, a Glendale Christian Academy seventh-grader. “And I want other kids to come to this school.”

Jacob Contreras, a fifth-grader at Tri-City Christian Academy, joined other students who signed thank-you cards to legislators who enabled the tuition tax credit programs, which began in 1998.

“I like the school; it’s pretty fun, and I like my friends at the school,” Contreras said. “My parents can’t afford it without the tax credit.”

Gov. Jan Brewer, addressing the crowd, lauded the program and other ways Arizona has become a national leader on school choice.

“Support of school choice is not contradictory to supporting public schools,” Brewer said. “I support the education of our children, no matter where the location, and no matter what the context.”

Arizonans made 76,000 donations totaling $54 million through the private-school tuition tax credit program in 2007, according to the state Department of Revenue.

The Arizona Student Tuition Organization Association, which represents 23 organizations that fund private school scholarships through the program, organized the rally.

“This program gives our children a choice, as children are all different and have different needs,” said Harry Miller, the group’s executive director. “Where you have options you have chances to help children who fall through the cracks of the public school system.”

Michael Kelly, the group’s treasurer, said the state’s budget woes, which have cut into public education funding, could jeopardize the private-school tuition tax credits.

“We are always under attack by organizations that don’t support tax breaks or private schools,” Kelly said. “We take every threat to the tuition tax credit program seriously.”

Rep. Tom Chabin, D-Flagstaff, has introduced a bill that would reduce the tax credit to 50 percent of the donation. HB 2471 has yet to be heard in committee.

John Wright, the president of the Arizona Education Association, criticized Miller and Kelly’s group for urging more people to take advantage of private-school tuition tax credits when public education is under siege.

“It’s bad form for this special interest to be asking for more money, even as we have districts considering salary cuts this year,” Wright said.

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CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-TUITION CREDITS: Students make bubbles at a rally Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009, supporting a state tax credit that funds private school scholarships. Leaders of the demonstration said the state’s budget woes endanger the program. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Steven Falkenhagen)