Dollars for Scholars

One of the more promising innovations in state-level education policy has been the establishment of programs that encourage privately-funded scholarships for students attending private and religious elementary and secondary schools.  Avoiding the hotly-contested political terrain of vouchers, these programs instead offered taxpayers a limited dollar-for-dollar credit against their state income taxes for contributions made to “school tuition organizations” or “student scholarship organizations.” Imagine that! Instead of sending $500 or $1,000 to the state, you could write a check to a group that in turn provided scholarships for students to attend private or religious schools. You roll back the state a bit and enhance the vigor of civil society.

Sound too good to be true? We’ll know soon enough, as next Wednesday, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a challenge offered by the usual suspects against Arizona’s program.

I wrote a relatively brief post about the case here , with lots of links, if you care to follow them.