NEWS RELEASE
January 18, 2006

AFT Blasts Governor's Veto of School Choice Tax Credit Bill

PHOENIX-The Arizona Federation of Taxpayers blasted Gov. Janet Napolitano's veto today of HB 2004, which would have established a corporate income tax credit for contributions by corporations to student tuition organizations. "This bill would've been a winner for taxpayers and a winner for children," said AFT executive director Tom Jenney. "The government could've saved thousands of dollars for each child who left the government school system and enrolled in a private school. Just as important, we could've given thousands of low-income Arizona students a chance at a high-quality education." 

According to a school finance study published last year by the Goldwater Institute (link below), the average state base equalization funding per student ranges between $4,200 and $4,600, and the average per-student portion of non-equalized district funding is $4,309. Thus, the combined average per-pupil amount for government schools in Arizona is between $8,500 and $9,000. By comparison, the tuition for private schools is typically between $3,700 and $5,500 per student. Under the HB 2004 tax credit, the maximum scholarship would've been $4,200 for students in grades K-8, and $5,500 for high school students. 

"Even if each of the tax-credit scholarships hit the maximum of $5,500 per student, the state would've saved $8,500 per student, for a net savings of $3,000 per student," Jenney said. With a $5 million total cap for the program, and scholarships generally in the range of $1,500, the corporate tax credit could have helped over 3,000 kids transfer to private schools annually, and saved the state millions of dollars in education expenses. "The only problem we saw with this bill is that the cap should've been higher," Jenney said, "so that we could save more money and save more kids." 

According to the Phoenix-based Alliance for School Choice, HB 2004 would have allowed scholarships only for public school students transferring to private schools, and it would have required that 70 percent of funds must be spent on children with family incomes below 185 percent of the income limit to qualify for reduced lunches.

AFT chairman Chad Kirkpatrick suggested that Napolitano's veto was an unwise political move. "First," Kirkpatrick said, "The Governor needed to regain some trust with many legislators, who felt betrayed last session when she vetoed this bill. Second, school choice is immensely popular among voters." In last year's Kenski poll, 91.4 percent of Arizonans supported one or more of the five school choice proposals before the Legislature, with 65.6 percent "strongly" in favor of one or more of the programs. 

To read the Goldwater Institute school finance study, visit
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/pdf/materials/525.pdf.

To learn more about school choice, visit the Alliance for School Choice website:
www.AllianceForSchoolChoice.org 

For information on the Goldwater Institute's upcoming education policy conference, visit http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article.php/829.html.