5 names politicians use to sell private-school voucher schemes to parents

Reblogged from Education Votes

As a service to pro-public education advocates everywhere, Education Votes is going to highlight our top five names used by politicians to sell voucher schemes to the public.

  1. Opportunity Scholarships: A voucher that can be used for a wide range of items connected to attending a private and/or religious school, including tuition, transportation, equipment, and other expenses.
  2. Parental Choice Scholarships: Functions like opportunity scholarships. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which recently announced plans to up its game promoting vouchers, is peddling its own model of this type of voucher legislation.
  3. Tuition Tax Credits: Provides a state or federal income tax credit for private and/or religious school expenses, including tuition. In some states, instead of a tax credit, it’s a tax deduction.
  4. Education Savings Accounts: An investment account, similar to a Roth IRA, where money for private-school expenses can be saved. ESAs provide tax-free earned interest, as long as it’s used for tuition and other education-related expenses. Education savings accounts generally benefit families who can already afford to send their kids to private school.
  5. Charitable Tax Credit: Allows individuals and businesses to take a tax credit for donating to private, non-profit organizations that provide private school vouchers. It operates like a tuition tax credit, but, in this case, the tax credit shifts to the individual or businesses making the donation.

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