The pending Universal Tuition Tax Credit Bill (SB34) is one of those rare pieces of legislation that would truly promote the general welfare of Utah. As private school principals and directors (as well as taxpayers and parents ourselves), we appreciate this forum to debunk the myths about private schooling and set forth the facts on how everyone truly wins with parental choice in education.
Myth No. 1: Private schools are only for the wealthy. This outdated, Ivy League perception belies the fact that the vast majority of private school patrons are middle-class families who make considerable sacrifices for their children's education: selling second cars, taking on second jobs and so forth. Furthermore, Children First Utah, a private scholarship organization, is proving that low-income families are likewise willing to sacrifice when given the chance. Last year, CFU received more than 1,000 applications for 300 scholarships that required low-income families (those qualifying for reduced school lunch) to pay half of private school tuition.
Myth No. 2: Private schools take only the academic cream of the crop and exclude children with special needs. There are as many different kinds of private schools as there are children who attend them. Some schools are academically exclusive; others accept students with special needs (academic and behavioral). Most, however, educate a mix of ordinary children.
Myth No. 3: Private schools lack accountability measures. Public schools receive increased funding every year, regardless of how well or how poorly they perform, rendering so-called government accountability measures meaningless. Private schools must please the parents who pay tuition or they lose their patronage — the ultimate accountability to those who bear the ultimate responsibility for educating children, the parents.
Myth No. 4: Private school tuition tax credits will deplete public school funds. The independent legislative fiscal analyst has already confirmed that SB34 will actually increase public school funding by about $100,000 the first year alone, with far greater increases projected thereafter. The reason is twofold, and anyone can do the math: First, the proposed tax credit of $2,132 per pupil is less than half the $5,675 per pupil spent through state and local funding. So for every student that transfers to private school, the remaining $3,543 remains in the public system, thus increasing per-pupil funding. Second, even fixed costs such as building overhead and teacher salaries do not pose a problem because the pupil slots vacated for private schooling will certainly be filled by others. Utah's enrollment growth is projected at 20 percent (about 100,000 students) by 2010.
SB34 will allow anyone with a tax liability to either pay directly for part of a child's private school tuition or contribute to a nonprofit Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO), which then administers the scholarships to schools of the parents' choosing. The only students unable to use this credit are those from non-low-income families who are in private schools. Although this represents a large portion of our current patrons, we recognize the value in offering school choice to approximately 97 percent of Utah's students and hope that at some point all students will be able to benefit from this great program.
Susan Morris
American Heritage School of Spanish Fork
Sister Catherine Kamphaus
superintendent of Catholic Schools
Val and Lou Ann Helquist
Helquist Academy
Georgia Herod
elementary principal, Christian Heritage School
Betsy Hunt
principal, Madeleine Choir School
Fred Roberts
principal, American Heritage School of American Fork