CFADC News 3

Letter to the Editor: EITC Program “costing taxpayer?”

[from www.paschoolchoice.org. Posted July 20, 2012]

Re: “It’s Real Money” (editorial, July 5)

Disappointing was the editorial arguing that the Educational Improvement Tax Credit — a decade-old, bipartisan-supported program that gives children educational options through voluntary business tax credits — “costs taxpayers.”

First comes the implication that businesses are not, in fact, taxpayers. Indeed, you seem to imply that citizens are best served when government takes more money out of the pockets of employers. But businesses are taxpayers, too, and they pass on the costs of their taxes to individuals through higher prices, smaller payrolls or less investment in the state.

Unfortunately, this falls into the typical tax-and-spend-proponent shell game that argues tax policy should seek to maximize the size of government. This attack on the EITC is befuddling, given that the expansion of educational tax credits, a $75 million increase, is less than public schools across Pennsylvania spend in one day.

More importantly, your lopsided argument ignores the savings of EITC. In 2010-11, the average EITC scholarship awarded for a student to attend a school of their choice was $1,099. In contrast, Pennsylvania school districts spent nearly $15,000 per student. In other words, the program offers scholarships to 13 students for the same cost as educating one in a public school. That is real savings to taxpayers, while offering students the opportunity to attend a better and safer school.

School choice saves — it saves students from violent and failing schools, and it saves taxpayers money by educating children at a lower cost.

Nathan A. Benefield

Director of Policy Analysis

Commonwealth Foundation

CFADC News 2

Pa. program turns tax credit tactic toward low-achieving schools
[from www.paschoolchoice.org. August 7, 2012]

The Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program is giving businesses an opportunity to obtain tax credits in exchange for donating scholarship money for students to leave low-achieving Pennsylvania schools.

Businesses can start submitting online applications on Wednesday to see if they qualify for the $50 million available in credits.

 

CFADC News1

Businesses Get OK To Offer Scholoarships
[from www.paschoolchoice.org. August 7, 2012]

An approved list of ten organizations can now accept scholarship applications from parents of students attending low-performing schools.  The scholarship money will come through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program.

The state Department of Community and Economic Development will continue to review applications from businesses who are willing to donate scholarship money and adjust the list.

The donations serve as tax credits for the businesses and assist parents with students attending one of the 414 public schools that fall into the lowest-achieving 15 percent.

 

our partner

follow us

Follow Us

img_06img_08img_03img_10

recent news

Recent News

20-12-2012

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do

20-12-2012

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do

20-12-2012

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do

Make a Donation

download application

Download The Scholarship Applications

hometext

Welcome To our Website

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
homeph

Downloadapplication