Group advocates tax credits for contributions to tuition
Oklahoma should enact a new program that provides tax credits for contributions that provide tuition scholarships to allow public school special-needs students to attend private schools of their choice, two policy organizations said.
Such a program would provide desirable alternatives for the students and their families and could generate fiscal benefits for both the state and local school districts.
Among those discussing such a proposal were the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) and the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, along with state Senator John Ford, R-Bartlesville, and state Representative Jabar Shumate, D-Tulsa. They discussed a study undertaken by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and authored by Brian Gottlob.
“Parents of students with disabilities face a number of tough choices as they go about seeking the best education for their children,” said Christian D’Andrea, of the Friedman Foundation. “This is true throughout the country. One promising option that Oklahoma policymakers might consider is to establish a scholarship tax credit program for special needs students, which would provide families with alternatives available for their children whose needs are not being met by the public school system. The study we are releasing today provides a great deal of analysis and sets forth a model that state legislators and the policymaking community might take a look at.”
“There is no one way to educate every child in Oklahoma,” said Sen. Ford. “It is important that we look at the costs and benefits of various alternatives. That’s why I applaud the Friedman Foundation and OCPA for undertaking this study.”
The report found that the state and also the local districts would save tax dollars if the special-needs scholarships were set at $5,000.
The Oklahoma proposal is similar to one enacted in Florida in 1998, which provides vouchers for students with disabilities. Since implemented in 2000-01, the Florida program, known as the McKay Scholarship Program, has grown from serving 970 students in 100 private schools to serving 19,852 students in 846 private schools. Since the Florida program was enacted, special education voucher programs have been enacted in Ohio, Utah, Georgia and Arizona.
“What we have found in Florida is that there is an increased amount of satisfaction and reduced levels of antagonism between parents and school systems,” said D’Andrea.
The study, entitled The Fiscal Impact of Tax-Credit Scholarships in Oklahoma, looked at Oklahoma’s school funding system as well as the demographics of the state’s special-needs population in both public and private schools. It also developed a model which explored the fiscal impact of a special-needs tax credit program on the state budget and on local school districts.
If a program provided parents of special-needs students with a $5,000 scholarship to attend private school, the study estimated that the demand for the program would reach 3,443 students, or about 3.6 percent of the total special-needs population. Under that scholarship level, the state would realize a net fiscal benefit.
Scholarships set at $10,000 or $15,000 would reach more students (7.1 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively) but would result in net losses to the state.
Local school districts would realize substantial fiscal benefits at scholarship levels of $15,000 and under, according to the study.
Under a tax credit program, individuals or corporations who make donations to private charitable organizations would receive a state tax credit. The charitable organizations then use the money to fund scholarships for students.
“Tax-credit programs provide a much more efficient mechanism to direct dollars to education than increasing state aid,” said Brandon Dutcher, OCPA’s vice president for policy. “But more importantly, the kind of program we are talking about here increases parental satisfaction and reduces the inherent conflicts and confrontations that play out countless times each year between parents of special-needs students and public school districts.”