Critics say state's increased tax credit for private and parochial scholarship programs lacks accountability
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — As part of the recently approved state budget, more money is being pumped into a school tax credit program.
As KDKA-TV political editor Jon Delano reports, it's a program that divides educators and policymakers.
It's called the Educational Improvement Tax Credit – or EITC – and it just got a significant boost in funding from lawmakers and Governor Tom Wolf.
"We would not be able to do what we do without this program, and we are committed to the integrity of it," said Sheila Rawlings, director of development for The Neighborhood Academy of Pittsburgh.
The Academy is a private 6-12 school that serves African American middle and high school students. One hundred percent of its graduates get admitted to college. So, how important is the EITC?
"It's huge for us," Rawlings said. "It actually makes up almost one-third of our budget. And those funds are specifically directed towards scholarships for our students."
Corporations, businesses and individuals can get a state taxpayer-funded tax credit of up to 90 percent of their donations to certain scholarship funds that encourage students to attend private or parochial schools.
"That is tax dollars that would be spent in our public school system going to private institutions," said state Sen. Lindsey Williams, a West View Democrat.
Williams, the senior Democrat on the Senate Education Committee, calls it a backdoor school choice voucher program because taxpayers are essentially reimbursing donors to private and parochial school scholarship programs.
"Now it will be $405 million a year going to private schools that should be spent on our public schools, and that will have a direct impact on your local property taxes," Williams said.
But Nathan Benefield of the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think-tank, said this year's $125 million funding boost is because parents want alternatives to public schools.
"While there are 60,000 students getting scholarships in the last year, there were 75,000 students on waiting lists. There were scholarship applications that were turned away last year," Benefield said.
But Williams said the program lacks accountability on how the donated money is spent and whether it really helps students.
"We have zero quantitative data to determine how effective and how efficient this program is for increasing educational opportunities for students," Williams said. "It is in the original statute that we are barred from collecting any of that data. So we don't have any of it."
She said the EITC program shifts tax dollars from public schools to private schools, something advocated by conservative groups like the Commonwealth Foundation.
"We have data on the performance of public schools. It's gone down despite increases in funding. That's not accountability at all. What's really accountability is empowering parents with a choice. When parents choose the best school for their kid, that's when real accountability comes in," Benefield said.
While critics are not happy and are looking for ways to improve accountability, the expanded EITC program is now law
If you want to see if your child is eligible for any of these funds, check with officials at your private or religious school.
