Lawmakers might end up debating two bills offering tax credits for private school tuition, including one carried by a moderate associated with the "Jones-Mascaro" school funding bill.

Reps. Steve Mascaro, R-West Jordan, and Jim Ferrin, R-Orem, have requested separate bills on the controversial idea.

Ferrin's would look like the one he carried, then pulled, last session. That bill offered a tax credit worth half of the money spent on private school tuition up to $2,000.

Mascaro wants a seven-year pilot program for tuition tax credits. School districts that lose money in the pilot would be reimbursed through the Rainy Day Fund. And participating private schools would be held accountable to some of the same standards as public schools.

Details are being hammered out. But so far, some of Mascaro's ideas — except for a limited pilot — have been included in past legislation.

"I see this as another way to address educational funding problems," Mascaro said. "To me, you've got to test it. I don't know how else we're going to be able to look the public in the eye and tell whether it's good."

Mascaro also plans to again join Rep. Patricia Jones, D-Cottonwood Heights, in carrying a bill that in past years sought, in part, to have bigger families pay more taxes to educate their children.

Tuition tax credits have polarized lawmakers for years, mainly over cash questions: Will they take money away from public schools, or will they entice students to seek private schools, therefore freeing up more money for public education?

An answer was provided Tuesday. A politically neutral, state-commissioned Utah State University study showed the credits could save the state hundreds of millions, even more than a billion dollars, in would-be education costs.

But that doesn't mean tax credits are the way to go, philosophically, even for a short time, said State Board of Education chairman Kim Burningham, who thinks the USU study deserves close scrutiny.

"Once you do something, to reverse (it) is almost an impossibility," Burningham said. "This will have such a profound effect on the separation of peoples."

Meanwhile, Mascaro wants to meet with Ferrin to see if they can combine their ideas into one bill.

Said Ferrin: "I'd love to work in concert and in cooperation with anyone and everyone who has constructive, meaningful input."

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