How Can States Give Tax Money to Private, Religious Schools? Loopholes, Of Course

[marmar]

How Can States Give Tax Money to Private, Religious Schools? Loopholes, Of Course


There was a story in The New York Times today about state programs that offer tax credits to people who donate to private (mostly religious) primary and secondary schools. It's a long story ,and you may have skipped over it, but I'd like to recommend it to you, because so many of the most infuriating things about America happen as a result of these laws.

First of all, the laws are an end run around legal restrictions on the funding of religious schools. The people who support the laws claim that they're constitutional because no tax money goes to religious schools, but if you get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donating to a religious school, as the story says you do in Georgia, that's indirect funding of religious schools by means of diverted tax money -- but, of course, wingnut-dominated courts don't see it that way, so the state laws are routinely upheld.

According to the story, the laws exist ostensibly to set up scholarships that help needy kids escape bad public schools, but, in fact, what generally happens is that families raise the money from friends and relatives, then send their own kids to the schools -- needy kids never get scholarships. Or parents who send their kids to these private schools already pretend to enroll their kids in public school, then get this money to divert the already diverted kids. Or the money is raised to get some hotshot football player into a particular private school. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/933977/how_can_states_give_tax_money_to_private%2C_religious_schools_loopholes%2C_of_course/

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[bongbong]

2. Organized Religion

It's all about the Benjamins.

[freshwest]

3. This isn't new. It's the original reasoning behind charter schools, many years ago.

Some areas of the country have always had trouble with having a sufficient tax base to provide decent public schools.
Whenever leaders tried to addresst that with sharing resources to equalize the quality of the schools, infrastructure, textbooks and other opportunities, the refomers would last until the next conservative sweep into power.

They then seduced low-income people into going into charters, with a bait and switch. A lot of those schools failed, but they took the money and ran.

The other push was to claim public schools were teaching kids how to practice sex acts in the classrooom as young six years old. This is a standard GOP tactic to frighten parents and demonize liberals and public schools. I've argued this with people in red states for years. I live in an ultra liberal area. It didn't happen with us, why should it happen anywhere else?

The conservatives have been attacking public education for decades and they've just about drowned it in some areas. They push homeschooling and anything to decimate the public schools. The CT people say that the public schools are in place to brainwash everyone to accept the 'NWO.' This is where your Teabagger school boards get their information.

They attacked one of the best American institutions striving to give students an equal playing field and learn about working with people of all kinds. And a feeling of solidarity with all. The public schools have been a way to have social mobility through making use of the commons to prepare young people to think outside their own experience.

The right are doing this to separate us, and religion and hate radio have played the strongest parts in doing so.