All parents have a right to choose their child's school.  Parents have a fundamental right and responsibility to direct their children's education.  All parents, whether their children attend a public, independent, private or religious school, bear additional expenses for their children’s education beyond what they pay in state and local taxes.  All schools need additional revenue to help offset the rising costs. Tax credits include a refundable provision to assist poor families.

Rationale

Tax Credits for Education Expenses of Parents

All parents of school-aged children incur some additional expenses for their children’s education beyond what they pay in taxes.  These expenses range from buying education materials for the classroom or the home, to expenses for school projects, programs or educational trips, to fees for tutoring or advanced placement programs and yes, tuition as independent and religious schools.  Not only would a tax credit for educational expenses help all parents offset these expenses, it would save taxpayers millions of dollars by enabling more parents to enroll their children in independent and religious schools.

School choice opponents try to scare citizens and lawmakers by claiming that parental choice initiatives drain funding from public schools and represent an abandonment of public education.  When the Wisconsin Legislature established parental choice in 1990, opponents predicted a decline in enrollment, budget reductions, less state education aid, and lower academic performance for students remaining Milwaukee public schools.  But none of those predictions came true.

In fact, 14 years of data from the Wisconsin Department of Education and the Milwaukee public schools show just the opposite trends. 

• Milwaukee public school enrollment increased nearly 5 percent;  
• The annual drop-out rate declined;  
• Real spending per pupil increased as did state aid;
• Schools have been remodeled; and
• Academic performance continues to rise.                                                                   

Elected and public school officials in Milwaukee and Wisconsin now proudly proclaim that a broad-based system of parental choice is revitalizing their city by turning their school system around, improving the lives of untold numbers of young people, and encouraging families and businesses to move into Milwaukee.  That’s 14 years of facts, not rhetoric.

While opponents of parental choice will try, they simply cannot negate the fact that it costs more than $12,000 on average to educate a student in public school and that the more children are educated in independent and religious schools, the more the state saves.  And the more the state saves, the more it has to spend on public schools, which is critical given the court order resulting from litigation brought by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE).

Tax Credits for Investments in Education by Corporations, Individuals and Scholarhips Organizations –

All schools need additional funding to help them meet rising costs and provide needed programs and services.  The states of Arizona, Florida and Pennsylvania each have enacted “Education Investment Tax Credits” that encourage corporate and individual donations to schools and/or organizations that serve schools.  Currently, when an individual or corporation makes a donation to a school they are able to deduct the amount of the donation from their taxable income.   However, providing such donors with a tax credit would give them a greater tax benefit and therefore encourage more donations to schools and important programs service children. 

Such a tax credit would help lawmakers respond the CFE court order by stimulating considerable private-sector investments directly into schools to schools. 

An Education Investment Tax Credit of this nature would also encourage donations to scholarship organizations thereby enabling more parents to receive scholarships to enroll their children in independent or religious schools – again, saving the state money they would otherwise spend on those children in public school.

Tax Credits for Expenses of Teachers –

It is difficult to find a teacher who does not spend some of their own money on classroom materials and supplies.  Teachers are dedicating their own money to purchase materials that the school has not been able to provide.  In some cases, teachers are using their own money to purchase supplies that the family cannot afford.

Given the enormous dedication teachers make to the education of our children, they should not have to sacrifice their own limited financial resources to benefit the children in their classroom. 

Teachers who do so should receive a tax credit worth up to $250 to help them offset these expenses.

We therefore strongly urge the Governor and legislature to enact a series of tax credits to help parents meet the educational needs of their children, to encourage private-sector investment and help teachers offset their expenses for the classroom.

FAQs re Education Tax Credits Sept 2005 (pdf file - 17kb)
Frequently Asked Questions about Education Tax Credits Sept 2005

Bishop Clark's Letter of Support for Education Tax Credits Sept 2005 (pdf file - 62kb)
Bishop Clark Request to Parishes and Parents: Support Education Tax Credits

New York State Catholic Bishops Praise Gov. Pataki's Education Tax Credit Proposal 17 Jan 2006 (pdf file - 40kb)
Cardinal Egan, Archdiocese of New York City, and the Catholic Bishops of New York State applaud Gov. Pataki’s bold action, calling for an education tax credit to provide hope to parents in underperforming public school districts.

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