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Friday, April 25, 2008
In education, parents deserve to have a choice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The nagging question since Republicans took full control under the Gold Dome is this: What difference does it make?
In many areas, the difference is hard to see. Not so with education. Bit by bit, Georgia is catching up with other states in giving parents control over the education our children receive.
That is one of the major differences that surfaces repeatedly in legislative debate about education, about health care and, in general, about the role of government in our lives. It’s become especially noticeable in the past year. Democrats and Republicans are beginning to divide philosophically here, as they do nationally.
The debate generally breaks down as to whether we as citizens are responsible enough to choose what’s best for us — or whether wiser, better-informed and more compassionate bureaucrats should exercise that authority.
It’s the transcendent conflict of our time, made all the more urgent by the fact that the national tax base is shrinking while lifestyle choices grow dependence. In 2004, according to the Washington-based Tax Foundation, 42.5 million Americans filed returns and had zero tax liability, up from 32 million four years earlier. Non-payers have increased 160 percent since 1985, the foundation reports. Meanwhile, out-of-wedlock births make government a second parent.
The question then becomes how to bridge individuals to self-reliance. On education, it’s school choice. Give parents information, and then assist them to act.
One of the most significant pieces of legislation for parents of schoolchildren passed this year and is now awaiting Gov. Sonny Perdue’s signature. It’s House Bill 1133, authored by schoolteacher David Casas, a Republican representative from Lilburn in Gwinnett County.
It would allow a $1,000 income tax break for individuals ($2,500 for couples) who donate to organizations that give scholarships to children in public schools to attend schools of the parents’ choosing.
Corporations could receive credits of up to 75 percent of their state tax liability, which has proven to be a powerful incentive in other states — notably Florida and Pennsylvania — according to a study by Brian Gottlob, a senior fellow for the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. All credits would be capped at $50 million per year.
Parents could not take tax credits for their own child’s education expenses, nor could they designate scholarship recipients.
In Georgia, average private school tuition is estimated by the foundation at $5,940 per year.
Kelly McCutchen, vice president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, which had partnered with the Friedman Foundation on the Gottlob study, notes that there’s no cap on the amount of scholarships that organizations can grant. An average grant of $3,000, used as an estimate while the bill was being debated, would have reduced tuition by an average of 51 percent, Gottlob found.
Now, however, organizations could choose to concentrate on low-income students, for example, and provide full scholarships.
In the preliminary study, the estimate was that local schools would get benefits amounting to almost twice the $50 million state tax credit cap. That’s because they keep the local property tax revenues although they’d not have to educate the children who received the scholarships.
“It’s a tremendous victory for school choice,” said McCutchen, whose Atlanta-based think tank is a strong advocate for parents on education choice. “You have to ask yourself what is best for the child. We’ve got to give these kids the best opportunity for a good, solid education because if they drop out, we are sentencing them to a lifetime of struggle.”
House Bill 1133 is a major advance in choice. Georgia is not the national leader here. Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Rhode Island offer tax credits along the lines of those now proposed here.
The difference between the two parties is that one trusts informed parents to know what’s best for their child — and helps them. The other insists that children be held hostage in public schools until those who organize and run them get it right.
House Bill 1133 is big-league movement in the right direction for parents and children.
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Porn, Earth Day, Justice Thomas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thinking Right’s weekend free-for-all. Pick a topic:
If a Katrina occurs on his watch, John McCain says he would immediately fly to the nearest Air Force base, presumably to direct operations. “Never again, never again, will a disaster of this nature be handled in the disgraceful way it was handled.” Once again, the locals and then the state are responsible for preparation and for first response to disasters. McCain shouldn’t use this dead time in Republican presidential politics to federalize those roles.
I have rarely been more embarrassed for my alma mater, the University of Georgia. Protesting the choice of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as commencement speaker, as some faculty members have done, embarrasses the institution. I’m not a vindictive guy, but those who are so intolerant of free speech don’t belong in the classroom.
OK, it turned out badly.but the decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to try to save taxpayers $138 — the cost of a metal pulley that’s part of the gauge measuring the water level at Lake Lanier — is hereby lauded. Imagine that. Bureaucrats who spend millions actually concerned about $138. Give ‘em a raise. On me.
Headline: “Donors generous just before session.” The shocking news is that just prior to the opening of this year’s General Assembly, those with business before the body were generous in campaign contributions to politicians. Shocking! Go back 20 years. Match campaign contributions by industry to legislation under consideration. There’s always a link. The only real solution is full and timely disclosure. Give voters information and they’ll act.
An 11-county poll for the Transit Planning Board, another of those groups involved in the process of talking about transportation fixes, finds that 58 percent of Metro Atlantans say they would support a 1 percent sales tax to fund a specific list of transportation projects. Me too — as long as it is the right fix and actually reduced traffic congestion. That’s the rub. Whether it’s a penny or a quarter — the amount gas has gone up at my station in the past week — are we getting actual, measured traffic congestion relief? If not, a penny is too much.
Angela Speir won’t run for reelection to the Georgia Public Service Commission. Too bad. She’s as honest as they come. She takes no freebies, meals or tickets, from those associated with utilities the PSC regulates.
I’m OD’ed on Clayton County schools personnel problems. Wake me when the parents get vouchers and can take their business elsewhere.
U.S. Congressman Paul Broun of Athens, elected to fill the vacancy created by the death of Charlie Norwood, is a short-timer. Attempting to ban the sale and rental on military bases in the U.S. and abroad of sexually explicit material — Playboy and Penthouse among them — is misguided. Sure the culture’s gone to hell. But let adults in uniform decide what troops want to see and read.
A written reprimand — the punishment given to DOT commissioner Gena Abraham — is nothing. In the political-appointee business, you’re either fired or you’re in charge. She’s in charge and the decision will come back to haunt. Board member Dana Lemon put her finger on it: “I strongly feel like the board and the department have to operate with integrity, credibility, consistency, transparency…” The department has 5,700 employees. Neither she nor the board can now come down hard on subordinates who have lapses of judgment.
Quiz the school kids: Do they know more about Earth Day or the Declaration of Independence or World War II. I’m guessing Earth Day.
