238 CHAPTER 8: Financing Public Education Taxpayers, who want to keep the lid on school spending, want to hold schools and educators responsible for students’ academic achievement.41 In 2001, the newly passed NCLB brought the issue of accountability to the forefront of federal education policy. The act required statewide assessment programs in reading and mathematics for all children in grades 3 through 8. The purpose was to hold schools accountable for the performance of all students, especially underserved populations, on the assessments. If a school failed to meet AYP toward performance targets for a set number of years, sanctions were placed on the school. The focus of this accountability effort was referred to as a “test and punish” approach that had drastic implications for school funding at both the state and local district level.42 The Obama administration has implemented a number of adjustments to the accountability measures in its efforts to reauthorize the ESEA. The administration has been granting states waivers from certain accountability requirements related to student achievement. While there has been some easing of pressure in this area, the trade-off is that states receiving federal funds are being required to implement teacher and principal evaluations systems that incorporate measures of student growth. Teachers will be held accountable by measuring the value that a given teacher adds to the achievement of his or her students.43
8-4c Tax Credits, Educational Vouchers, and School Choice tuition tax credits Tax reductions offered to parents or guardians of children to offset part of their school tuition payments.
educational voucher A flat grant
or payment representing a child’s estimated school cost or portion of the cost. Under a typical voucher plan, the parent or child may choose any school, public or private, and the school is paid for accepting the child.
Tuition tax credits allow parents to claim a state tax reduction for approved education expenses they pay to send their child to nonpublic school. The tax-credit movement reflects the public’s desire for increased choice in schools as well as the continuing quest of nonpublic schools for support. Since the 1950s, Minnesota has employed tax deductions for educational expenses; at least seven other states also use a type of tax credit for such expenses.44 An expanding version of the tuition tax credit is the scholarship tax credit program where corporations and individuals can donate a portion of the state taxes that are owed to private nonprofit school tuition organizations that award scholarships to K–12 students. The scholarship can be used for private schools or public schools outside of the student’s home district. Fourteen states currently have scholarship tax credit programs.45 Use of educational vouchers is another growing trend in school finance reform. Under a voucher system, the state or local school district gives parents of school-age children a tax-subsidized voucher or flat grant, representing a portion of their children’s educational cost. Children then use this voucher to attend a school of the family’s choosing.46 Thirteen states and the District of Columbia had voucher programs in
Peter Hart and Robert M. Teeter, Equity and Adequacy: Americans Speak on Public School Funding (Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, 2004) at www.ets.org/americans_speak/funding; and Teachers Matter: Understanding Teachers’ Impact on Student Achievement (Santa Monica, CA: Rand, 2012) at www.rand.org/education/projects/measuring-teacher-effectiveness /teachers-matter.html. 42 Todd Ziebarth and Bryan Hassel, ECS Issue Brief—School Restructuring via the No Child Left Behind Act: Potential State Roles (Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States, November 2005) at www.ecs.org/html/Document.asp?chouseid=6578; and Allie Bidwell, “Coalition Wants New School Accountability,” US News and World Report (October 28, 2014). 43 Bidwell, “Coalition Wants New School Accountability”; and Marc S. Tucker, Fixing Our National Accountability System (Washington, DC: The National Center on Education and the Economy, 2014). 44 Lawrence Hardy, “The Voucher Revival,” American School Board Journal (November 11, 2011), pp. 14–18; and Josh Cunningham, Comprehensive School Choice Policy: A Guide for Legislators (Denver, CO: National Conference of State Legislatures, September 2013). 45 ”School Choice: Scholarship Tax Credits,” NCLS.org (2015) at www.ncsl.org/research /education/school-choice-scholarship-tax-credits.aspx. 46 Bruce D. Baker, Preston Green, and Craig E. Richards, Financing Education Systems (New York: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008), pp. 318–321. 41
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