Title

Tax Credit Scholarship Programs: A Model Statute for a Better Program

Educ. L. & Pol'y Rev., Forthcoming

Abstract

This is a brief companion article to "Tax Credit Scholarship Programs and the Changing Ecology of Public Education," http://ssrn.com/abstract= 244608, forthcoming in the Arizona State Law Journal. This Article offers a model statute for an improved tax credit scholarship program. It will appear in the Education Law and Policy Review.

Advocates for school choice have long supported well-known and diverse causes like Charter schools, magnet schools, home schools, and private school vouchers. In recent years, they achieved substantial success in pushing states to adopt a new way of funneling public funds to private schools, namely tax credit scholarship programs. In broad terms, tax credit scholarship programs allow taxpayers to receive tax credits for contributing to student scholarship organizations (“SSOs”). SSOs then disburse the funds as scholarships for children to attend private schools. Such programs have now been adopted by a dozen states.