All posts in News
PHOENIX, Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — School Choice Organization Praises New Accounts that are Helping 167 Children with Special Needs
Despite a tight turnaround time for applications, Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) law has proven highly popular among Arizona families and, in its first year, will provide more than 100 families with the opportunity to send their children to the schools of their choice. In fact, 167 families and their children with special needs were awarded an ESA by the Arizona Department of Education for the Fall 2011 school semester.
The American Federation for Children, a leading school choice advocacy organization, praised the innovative new program–the only of its kind in the nation. Sponsored by State Senator Rick Murphy and House Majority Whip Debbie Lesko as SB 1553 and signed by Governor Jan Brewer in the last legislative session, ESAs allow parents of children with special needs to receive an account that the parents can use to choose the best educational services and environment for their children.
The Arizona School Boards Association sent a letter asking Attorney General Horne to nullify the law. A deadline for the Attorney General to respond to their letter has passed. That means that the law will stand barring a lawsuit. Read more…
School may be out for the summer, but school choice is in, as states across the nation have moved to expand education opportunities for disadvantaged kids. This year is shaping up as the best for reformers in a very long time.
No fewer than 13 states have enacted school choice legislation in 2011, and 28 states have legislation pending. Last month alone, Louisiana enhanced its state income tax break for private school tuition; Ohio tripled the number of students eligible for school vouchers; and North Carolina passed a law letting parents of students with special needs claim a tax credit for expenses related to private school tuition and other educational services.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker made headlines this year for taking on government unions. Less well known is that last month he signed a bill that removes the cap of 22,500 on the number of kids who can participate in Milwaukee’s Parental Choice Program, the nation’s oldest voucher program, and creates a new school choice initiative for families in Racine County. “We now have 13 programs new or expanded this year alone” in the state, says Susan Meyers of the Wisconsin-based Foundation for Educational Choice. Read more…
Washington, D.C. (June 16, 2011) – Forty-two states have introduced legislation in 2011 to create or expand school voucher and scholarship tax credit programs, according to an analysis completed today by the American Federation for Children — the nation’s voice for school choice.
If these bills pass, millions of children would have the opportunity to attend the private schools of their parents’ choice, demonstrating historic momentum for the popular educational choice movement.
Fifty-four bills create or expand voucher programs and 42 bills create or expand tax credit scholarship programs. Many bills often target disadvantaged children, including 27 bills for special needs children, two bills for military children, and two bills for children in foster care, according to AFC analyst Michelle Gininger, who conducted the research.
Since the beginning of the year, 12 bills have been enacted in nine states that will create, expand, and restore highly accountable and effective school choice programs. Read more…
In a rare effort to blunt the governor’s veto, the Legislature passed a scaled-back bill early Wednesday to further expand private-school tuition
An amendment to Senate Bill 1186 would still increase the donation limits for individuals and married couples by 50 percent, but it would do so by allowing them to contribute all the extra funds to a similar program set up for corporations.
Lawmakers abandoned several provisions of the vetoed bill, including one that would have allowed unlimited dollar-for-dollar tax credits for corporations.
The changes dropped the estimated price tag from $16.8 million to about $9 million, according to the nonpartisan Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
The number of students who must use the tax-credit scholarships for it to become cost-neutral also fell, from 3,300 under the original bill to 1,700 under the new one.
“She’s going to be looking at that bill closely in the days ahead, but she doesn’t have a determination on it just yet,” said Matthew Benson, a spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer. It is just one of the 168 bills she must weigh by May 2.
“This governor has a very strong record on school choice,” Benson said. “At the same time, she has been adamant that we not do things that throw the budget out of balance.”
Brewer seemed primarily worried about the original bill’s cost.
Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, guided the revised plan through the Legislature.
He tacked it on to a lengthy bill adjusting tax language affecting several programs, including the jobs program Brewer signed into law earlier this year.
“We went through (the veto letter) with a fine-tooth comb,” said Yarbrough, who also operates the state’s largest school-tuition organization, which distributes tax-credit donations from individuals to private-school scholarships.
“We’re hopeful she’ll sign (the new bill).”
Brewer’s veto of House Bill 2581 was seen by some as a surprise snub to school-choice advocates, who only days earlier had celebrated a 5-4 victory in the U.S. Supreme Court that made it harder to legally challenge the tax-credit program.
Brewer’s veto sparked a one-sided outcry last week.
The tax-credit legislation generated 337 messages to her in favor of signing HB 2581, and only four against it, a spokeswoman said. Yarbrough said he had no role in that response.
The corporate tax-credit program has several key differences from the more-popular program for individual taxpayers.
Scholarship recipients must be switching from public to private schools, and donors cannot recommend recipients.
Also, scholarships must go to students with family incomes within 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. For a family of four, that’s about $41,348 this year.
Under the new bill, an individual could contribute $750 between the two programs; a married couple filing jointly could contribute $1,500.
Read the full article here.
Phoenix, Arizona (April 15, 2011) – State and national school choice organizations today called on Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to reverse her opposition to legislation that would allow thousands of children from poor and working-class families to attend the private schools of their parents’ choice.
On Tuesday, Brewer vetoed legislation that would have expanded the state’s two scholarship tax credit programs while saving tax dollars and stimulating the economy.
The organizations — including the American Federation for Children, the Alliance for School Choice, the Foundation for Educational Choice, the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, the Black Alliance for Educational Options, and the Education Breakthrough Network — called on Brewer to reach an agreement with state legislators to expand the state’s highly popular Corporate and Individual School Tuition Organization Tax Credit Programs. Brewer vetoed legislation that would have lifted the donation cap on the corporate program and expanded its base of funding. The vetoed legislation would have also benefited Arizona taxpayers by increasing the amount of their tax credit for STO contributions in the individual program.
“We are deeply disappointed that a leader who has consistently championed school choice would now deny scholarships to thousands of children,” said John Schilling, the Chief Operating Officer of the American Federation for Children and a former Associate Superintendent of Public Instruction at the Arizona Department of Education.
The organizations praised Brewer’s decision to sign into law an Education Savings Account bill for children with special needs — but said that her veto of scholarship tax credit program expansion legislation ignores the growing demand for school choice in the state.
“School Tuition Organizations across the state have waiting lists that number thousands of students,” said Schilling. “The futures of children in Arizona require that Governor Brewer reconsider her decision and work with the legislature to continue the positive trajectory of education reform in the state.”
As of this school year, 3,636 children benefit from the Corporate School Tuition Organization Tax Credit Program, and 27,476 children benefit from the Individual School Tuition Organization Tax
INDIANAPOLIS – The Foundation for Educational Choice today called Gov. Jan Brewer’s veto of the expansion of an education tax credit program a “sad travesty” and urged the governor to rethink her veto immediately.
“Gov. Brewer has been a friend of school choice, but her veto flies in the face of her past support and is a tragedy for the thousands of children who need greater educational options,” said Robert Enlow, President and CEO of the Foundation.
“Everyone knows that when states expand tax credit programs, it saves state budgets money since it costs less to educate children with a tax credit scholarship,” added Enlow. “That’s why Gov. Brewer’s veto makes no sense.”
The proposal adopted by the Arizona Legislature and vetoed this week would have increased the amount of tax credit that taxpayers would have earned if they donated to Arizona’s School Tuition Organizations. The legislation would have lifted the cap on the amount of money that could have been donated under the state’s corporate program and expanded its base of funding.
“Arizona students are waiting in line for scholarships yet Gov. Brewer chose to veto a vehicle that would have given children more choice,” Enlow said.
In 2009, there were 27,582 students who earned scholarships averaging $1,889 under the Arizona Corporate School Tuition Organization Tax Credit Program and the Individual School Tuition Organization Tax Credit Program.
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arizona’s tax credit program was constitutional. It said that the program passed constitutional muster because those that challenged the program – especially the American Civil Liberties Union – didn’t have standing to bring suit to the court and those that contributed to scholarship organizations did so on a voluntary basis.
Goldwater Institute Daily Email
Last week may have been the school-choice movement’s best effort in a long time, with Arizona leading the way for systemic education reform and expanded opportunities.
Monday the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the latest challenge to Arizona’s tuition scholarship tax-credit program, which provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits for contributions to private school scholarships. Following the reasoning of the Arizona Supreme Court, the high court ruled that because tax credits leave money in the hands of taxpayers, they never become public funds. As a result, under federal law, taxpayers do not have standing to challenge the program.
Later in the week, the Arizona Legislature increased the amount of the tax credit for the scholarship program from $1,000 to $1,500 per couple.
Then on Thursday, the Arizona Legislature became the first in the country to approve education savings accounts, an idea born at the Goldwater Institute. When eligible students leave public schools, the state will fund an account with a portion of the dollars that would have been spent on their public education. Money in an ESA can be used for many educational purposes, from distance learning to private school tuition, curriculum software, or tutoring. Any money left over can be used for college after a student graduates from high school. ESAs reduce taxpayer costs while increasing schooling options.
The initial pilot is limited to children with disabilities, who lost their voucher program in 2009 when the Arizona Supreme Court struck it down under the state constitution. This program is designed to comply with the Court’s ruling in that case.
ESAs have the potential to create a truly 21st century system of public education, in which every child is empowered to pursue the best possible schooling without stifling and costly bureaucracy and special-interest pressures. The bill creating the pilot program now awaits action from Governor Jan Brewer.
Finally, amidst the contentious federal budget deal just before midnight D.C.-time, Congress reauthorized the District of Columbia school voucher program, whose expansion congressional Democrats had previously halted. Now the Obamas will no longer be the only people in D.C. who live in public housing who get to send their kids to private school.
The Goldwater Institute will continue to pioneer such student-centered education reforms, while celebrating unprecedented success.
Clint Bolick is director of the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.
Learn More:
Goldwater Institute: Education Savings Accounts: Giving Parents Control of Their Children’s Education
Goldwater Institute: New Harvard report on tuition tax credit debunks myths
Washington Post: Budget deal includes D.C. abortion rider, money for school vouchers
Arizona Legislature: Senate Bill 1553 authorizing education savings accounts
Breaking News! Read the full article here.
The U.S. Supreme Court put new limits on the power of citizens to challenge government programs as unconstitutionally promoting religion, upholding an Arizona tax credit aimed at helping cover private-school tuition costs.
The justices, voting 5-4, today said opponents lacked “standing” to challenge the 14-year-old program, which gives tax credits for donations to organizations that provide private- school scholarships. The opponents faulted the program for relying on religious organizations that require their recipients to enroll in sectarian schools.
The ruling marks the second under Chief Justice John Roberts to insulate government programs from church-state challenges. The court in 2007 threw out a suit over then- President George W. Bush’s faith-based initiatives office.
The case split the court along familiar lines, with the court’s five Republican appointees — Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito – in the majority.
Since 1968, when the court issued a decision known as Flast v. Cohen, individuals have possessed the right to challenge statutes that direct government money to be spent for religious purposes. Flast marked an exception to the general rule that Americans can’t go to court to contest how their tax dollars are spent because they don’t have enough of an individual stake in the outcome.
The majority today said Flast didn’t apply. In reaching that conclusion, the majority agreed with the contentions of the Obama administration, which joined Arizona in defending the program.
A federal appeals court had let the lawsuit go forward.
The Arizona tax credit applies after taxpayers have computed how much they owe for the previous year. At that point individuals can send as much as $500 to so-called school tuition organizations, reducing their tax liability by the same amount.
The court ruled in 2002 that tax-funded school vouchers are constitutional so long as parents have a “genuine choice” not to send their children to religious schools.
The cases are Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, 09-987, and Garriott v. Winn, 09-991.
To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net.
Breaking News! Read the full article here.
The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed an establishment clause challenge to a tax credit program that helps fund scholarships at religious schools, ruling that the taxpayers who sued don’t have standing to pursue the case.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion (PDF) in the 5-4 case. The plaintiffs’ mere status as taxpayers was insufficient to create standing, Kennedy said. His opinion sees a difference between direct governmental expenditures and tax credits. In the latter instance, he wrote, “any financial injury remains speculative.”
The Arizona program provided individual tax credits of up to $500 for contributions to groups that in turn funded private school scholarships, including scholarships to religious schools.
Kennedy concluded his opinion with a cautionary note about activist courts. “Few exercises of the judicial power are more likely to undermine public confidence in the neutrality and integrity of the judiciary than one which casts the court in the role of a Council of Revision, conferring on itself the power to invalidate laws at the behest of anyone who disagrees with them,” he wrote.
“In an era of frequent litigation, class actions, sweeping injunctions with prospective effect, and continuing jurisdiction to enforce judicial remedies, courts must be more careful to insist on the formal rules of standing, not less so.”
In a concurring opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia argued that the Supreme Court’s 1968 taxpayer standing decision Flast v. Cohen should be overruled. He was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas. The majority and dissenters are arguing whether the Arizona taxpayers fall within Flast‘s narrow exception allowing taxpayer standing in establishment cases, Scalia said. Flast ”is an anomaly in our jurisprudence,” Scalia said, and he would repudiate the decision.
Justice Elena Kagan dissented. She was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Stephen G. Breyer and Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
The tax credit program has cost Arizona $350 million in diverted revenue, Kagan said. The majority’s “novel distinction in standing law between appropriations and tax expenditures has as little basis in principle as it has in our precedent,” she wrote.
The combined cases are Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn and Garriott v. Winn.
