BGA: New Tax Credit For Private Schools Have Monetary Advantage Over Public Schools
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The head of a government watchdog group said there seems to be an imbalance built into the new tax credit for private and religious school students that is part of the new school funding formula.
The Better Government Association does not take a position on whether there should be a tax credit for parents who choose to send their children to non-public schools. But, it's part of the law now, and BGA President Andy Shaw said his group has looked at how much the tax credit will cost and spend. WBBM's Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports.
"It's only $100-million total. We spend billions on public education so its just a fraction of the total spending, but each of the kids who get the scholarship to go to either private of parochial school will be taking with them two-to-five times more of tax dollars than we are sending to a school to support a public school student," Shaw said.
That could be an issue for some.
Shaw said Illinoisans can decide for themselves whether they support tax credits for families that send their children to private and religious schools.
The BGA's Andy Shaw will be the guest on our At Issue program this weekend and you can hear more on a variety of issues Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
