Unlike the New York Sun, I oppose tuition vouchers, which amount to public funding of private schools–a move that would destroy what little independence they have left as they came under the regulation that inevitably accompanies government money. However, I do support tuition tax credits as a way of letting people keep their own money to pay for education. Here’s what’s happening in New York:
The only bit of movement–and it is slight–comes in a modest education tax-credit bill that has been introduced in the state Assembly and Senate. The bill has 18 sponsors in the Senate and 11 in the Assembly, and would provide a modest tax credit for 50% of the value of donations to public schools (including charter schools), school districts, and scholarship funds that pay for private schools. Under the bill, individuals could get up to $250 for a $500 donation, and corporations could get up to $25,000 for a $50,000 donation.
The bill does not allow donations directly to private schools, however, because, as one of the architects of the bill, the president of United New Yorkers for Choice in Education, Timothy Mulhearn, told us, “That would be the kiss of death…You have to be public-school friendly in Albany.”[New York Sun, 3/18/03]