Join the Arizona STO Association (ASTOA) and its members and supporters on the Senate Lawn at the Arizona State Capital to celebrate and show support for Arizona’s many school choice programs.

ASTOA and its members will showcase the positive impact Arizona’s school choice programs, and in particular the tuition tax credits, are making in the lives of Arizona families. Come out leaders so that our state’s leaders will know that school choice matters and that their continued support is important for our children’s educational futures. We look forward to seeing you there!

Please note: In addition to the application, ALL families must also submit a copy of page 1 & 2 of their most recent tax return and a copy of each student applicant’s most recent report card.

MEETING NOTICE – OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

On Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 2:00 pm in HHR5, the Legislative Tax Credit Review Committee will be holding a hearing at the Capitol. Rep. Murphy has requested that Harry Miller, President of TOPS for Kids, testify on behalf of the School Tuition Organizations. Supporters of School Choice are encouraged to attend.

Dear Friend:

We recently released our fall newsletter The Voice for Choice*, highlighting our commitment to school choice and heart for Arizona families. The opposition continues to mount a massive media offensive in an effort to derail educational choice through false characterizations of the tax credit law and the many organizations that diligently strive to work within it. However, no changes have been made to the law. We still have the right and opportunity to vote with our resources by making a dollar-for-dollar tax credit donation in support of Arizona students.

The best way to deal with false accusations and uncertainty is through communication, transparency and truth. APESF is fully committed to all three, and this commitment is proven by both our actions and results. Since our inception in 1998, we have received tax credit revenues totaling $5,213,341 and have awarded $4,727,967 or 90.7% in educational scholarships. As part of your due diligence as a donor, we encourage you to visit this page on our website (www.apesf.org/financial) which outlines our revenue and disbursement details by year. In addition, we have provided a link on that page to our response to the Legislative Tax Credit Review Committee. We are serious about following the law and are diligent to preserve what it continues to allow for Arizona families.  Nothing has changed.

As thousands of Arizonans struggle to support their families and provide a strong academic foundation for their children, APESF, with your help, becomes an even more significant partner in the equation. We humbly thank you for your past confidence and support of our mission and once again encourage you to “take the credit” for Arizona students.

You may “take the credit” by mail or online before December 31 to receive credit for 2009. Please contact us at 480-699-8911 or helpdesk@apesf.org if you have any questions. Thank you again for your continued support.

Serving Together for Future Generations,

Mark D. Moerkerke
President

*The Voice for Choice newsletter is available online at www.apesf.org/fall2009newsletter.pdf

Posted by Andrew J. Coulson

The latest fiscal impact review of Arizona’s scholarship tax credit programs estimates that they saved between $44 million and $186 million last year.  The programs offer individuals and businesses dollar-for-dollar tax credits if they make donations to non-profit K-12 scholarship-granting organizations. Those organizations, in turn, provide private school tuition assistance.

This is much higher than the savings estimate offered by the Arizona Republic last month, as the AZ Republic story linked above is quick to point out. I deal with the reasons for the discrepancy below, but first, here’s the crucial fact that the Republic has missed yet again: if the tax credit programs were significantly expanded, such as by raising the donation caps, the state would undeniably save many hundreds of millions of dollars annually. In fact, if the share of AZ schoolchildren participating in the program rose to just 40 percent, taxpayers would save billions of dollars a year – even if the size of the individual scholarships had to triple to achieve that result.

The Republic’s failure to report that inescapable and rather important fact does it no credit.

Now, on to the reason for the discrepancy in savings numbers. The body of the story hints at it: the Republic’s estimate assumed that private school enrollment would have been flat or increasing without the tax credit program, while the latest estimate does not.

As I pointed out at the time, the Republic’s assumption is demonstrably mistaken. Official AZ statistics show that enrollment in private schools peaked before the tax credit program had gotten under way, and had begun to decline as a result of rapid growth in the (tuition-free) charter school sector. So the Republic’s savings estimate was almost certainly too low.

As the author of the latest study admits, his assumptions about the true number of students who have migrated to private schools as a result of the program are speculative, but at least they are reasonable and not obviously erroneous, as the Republic’s were. In any event, the savings from a much larger migration to the private sector are not in doubt.

Tuition Tax Credit Saves At Least Twice What It Costs State
by Matthew Ladner, Ph.D.

Baylor University economist Dr. Charles North developed an estimate of the savings to state taxpayers due to the individual tax credit, and shared his findings with the Arizona Legislature last week. You can find Dr. North’s analysis here and view his testimony to the Ad Hoc Committee on Private School Tax Credit Review here.

Dr. North provides a conservative estimate that the credit saves taxpayers twice as much money as the credit costs the state treasury each year. The savings could be greater than that.

During the same hearing, committee chairman Rep. Rick Murphy revealed the result of his survey of Scholarship Tuition Organizations (STOs). The survey included responses from 51 of the 53 STOs that collectively represent 96 percent of the funds raised (the other two groups may be defunct).

Thirty-two STOs reported considering family tax returns in the awarding of scholarships. Only seven of the 50 groups reported considering donor recommendations in awarding scholarships. Dr. North pointed out in his report that some of those recommended donations aid low-income children.

The Goldwater Institute went on record supporting STO reform–including annual audits–back in 2003. Lawmakers need to create either a public or a private oversight structure to deter STO malfeasance. But, some of the criticisms have jumped the shark. For instance, the Attorney General’s Office threatening to sue STOs over tiny fund balances when school districts have carried fund balances in the hundreds of millions of dollars for years. Quelle horreur!

Let’s make the necessary reforms to the tax credit program and actually focus on the serious education problems facing the state and the vast majority of Arizona children attending public school.

Dr. Matthew Ladner is vice president for research at the Goldwater Institute.

LEARN MORE:

Goldwater Institute: The Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit: Providing Choice for Arizona Taxpayers and Students

ATRA: K-12 Cash Balances Could Help Close FY 2010 Deficit

Center for Arizona Policy: State Saving Millions Because of Scholarship Tax Credits!

ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1700 West Washington l Phoenix, Arizona l 85007-2844
PHONE:  (602) 926-3233  l FAX: (602) 417-3043

Rep. Rick Murphy (R-Dist. 9)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           CONTACT: Becky Blackburn/602-926-3233

Private School Tuition Tax Credit Review Committee to Hold Second Meeting Today

WHAT: The second meeting of the Private School Tuition Tax Credit Review Committee formed by Speaker Kirk Adams (R-Dist. 19) in October is scheduled to meet today to review information provided from individual STO organizations regarding the application, administration and approval processes for the tax credits.

WHO: Dr. Charles North, Associate Professor of Economics, Baylor University will be testifying about his analysis of the economic impact of individual scholarship tax credit program to the state.

Tax expert Jeff Hill, from Hill & Hill Accounting.

Staff presentation on information provided by Arizona’s school tuition organizations.

WHEN: Monday, November 16, 2009 at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE: House Hearing Room 5 | 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ