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Recently, two Phoenix-area newspapers launched vicious attacks on Arizona’s school choice programs. Both the Arizona Republic and the East Valley Tribune published articles “investigating” school tuition organizations that provide scholarships for children to attend the schools of their parents’ choosing. The articles claim that school choice programs only benefit the wealthy while doing nothing to help the poor.
The truth these articles conveniently omit is that, regardless of the income levels of the recipients, these programs save the state money – leaving more money, not less for public education. The programs also benefit children and parents by allowing parents to choose schools that are best meeting their children’s needs – especially the thousands of kids whose families who would not be able to afford private education without scholarships provided by school tuition organizations. In these difficult economic times, we need programs like the scholarship tuition tax credits more than ever to give families options for their children’s education.
*The state saves money through the school tuition tax credit programs. Any lost revenue from the tax credits are more than made up by the reduction in public education costs. The average loss of revenue from the school tuition tax credits is $2000 per student, while the average cost to the state to educate that same student in a public school is $6000 ($9700 when you include all funding sources, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee).
*The school tuition tax credit programs empower parents to choose the education that they believe best meets their children’s needs, regardless of their income. Especially in these difficult economic times, many children attend private schools only because of the availability of scholarships provided by STOs.
If you have a positive story about how the school choice programs have helped your family, let us know. You can also submit a letter to the editor of your local paper: How to Write a Letter to the Editor.