Friday, May 11, 2007

Your Child's Education, Sponsored By Haliburton

Andrew Coulson explains why he thinks you can make an education tax credit scheme universal, such that it includes even those individuals who have no net income tax liability, without actually issuing checks from the government:
Under a scholarship donation tax credit, it is far easier for taxpayers to avoid being compelled to fund instruction that violates their convictions. Not only is making a donation under a tax credit program optional, but in the case where a taxpayer does decide to make a donation, the taxpayer chooses the scholarship granting organization that will receive the money. Because many different SGOs arise under well designed scholarship tax credit programs, it is easy for both low income families AND taxpayers to associate with ones that comport with their own values. This element of taxpayer/donor choice does not exist under either voucher or government monopoly school programs.

Non-refundable scholarship donation tax credit programs do not eliminate compulsion entirely — anyone who chooses not to participate is still taxed to pay for the status quo monopoly system — but it dramatically reduces the likelihood that anyone will be forced to pay for schooling he or she finds morally objectionable.
Yes, because it's a well-known fact that the interests and ideologies of corporations and wealthy individuals align cleanly with those of low-income families.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, that IS well known to anyone familiar with the scholarship donation tax credit programs already operating in states like Pennsylvania.

Statists just need to get over their revulsion toward educational freedom long enough to see that it works. Or, to paraphrase Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia: "The trick is not minding that it works."

--Andrew

Paul said...

It's difficult to know what to make of these sorts of claims when they come from somebody who opposes holding these schools accountable for the quality of their work, and views that opposition as a point of principle. As long as success is defined merely as program implementation, then I suppose it's good enough to be smug about the whole thing. If, on the other hand, you care about actual educational outcomes, then you'd have to, you know, collect some data on the program's effectiveness. But you don't see even program advocates talking about the program in anything other than vague financial terms.