Benefits of school choice touted

Holly Hall doesn't know where to turn.

The Orem mom is upset with Alpine District's controversial math program, which stresses "discovery" over memorization of times tables and other figures.

She's afraid the program isn't best for her family.

She also feels trapped.

She can't afford private schools. And both area charter schools are full.

Hall has thought about how a tuition tax credit could help.

So have a slew of power brokers, from legislators to the president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Games, who say Hall isn't alone.

An income tax credit for private school tuition could be the answer for such parents, advocates say.

They could become empowered consumers in an educational marketplace and shop around for the best programs. And creating competition would improve private and public schools, just as it boosts quality in any free market.

"I don't believe you're going to be able to move toward educational excellence at all until you properly place the authority of where the child goes to school with the parents," said Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan. He is sponsoring a tuition tax credits bill in the 2003 Legislature, which convened Monday.

Deseret News graphic Tax credit advocates' numbers Requires Adobe Acrobat.

Buttars' SB34 will be hotly contested. But advocates say it's an educational and financial no-brainer.

The bill will let individuals and businesses claim the tax credit two ways: by paying private school tuition for a child, or by paying up to 100 percent of what they owe in state income taxes to a private school scholarship organization.

The organization would have to spend all the money within a year of receipt. And its aid to any one student can't exceed the credit ceiling of $2,132, or the value of the state's per-student funding formula, the weighted pupil unit. Unspent dollars would funnel to the public school fund, with interest penalties.