Guess who controls what constitutes a "failing school"? They will get the same amount of screaming and lawsuits they would have otherwise endured.
There is no political benefit to compromise with evil. If you are going to fix education, fix it all the way.
“Governor Bentley has indicated that he will sign the legislation next week.”
Don’t want Governor. SIGN IT NOW!
A few questions, if I may, which I didn't see addressed in the articles:
1. Are many, if not a majority of Democrat state legislators black?
2. Are many of the failing schools in the state primarily black in enrollment?
This forces the Dems to directly decide what's more important to them: their own children, or their union constituents.
“Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, as she was leaving the House chamber threw her hands over her head and shouted, “Welcome to the new confederacy where a bunch of white men are now going to take over black schools.”
Paging revs. Sharpton and Jackson - You are now needed in Montgomery for a race baiting rally.
Let the Libturd DemoCommunists shout. Then shout louder than them, and then sign the bill.
Nice job with this.
BUMP
Montgomery bigwigs give Alabama the Full Monty (John Archibald)
How Alabama compares with other [16] states offering tax credits for school choice
Private school tuition in Alabama: a sampling of dollar amounts from across the state
At 2pm (CST) - 13 minutes from this post - al.com is supposed to have a live chat about this bill with (liberal) Matt Murphy. Check there if you wish - their link currently doesn't go to a chat page.
This information is taken from the 'FAQ' article I just cited in my previous post (#20).
Point 1> Alabama spent about $4,442 per student per year in 2010-2011, not including federal and local funding. Since the Accountability Act sets the bar at 80 percent of the state's cost to educate a child in public schools, the tax credit, if it would have existed that year, would have been $3,553.
Point 2> If your state income tax bill is less than the amount of the credit, the state will pay you the difference in the form of a rebate. In other words, if your child qualifies for a $3,500 tax credit, but your state tax bill is only $1,000, the state would send you a check for $2,500.
So there's the rub - and it is understandable: if your total state tax liability is LESS than allowed credit, then you will not get back more money than you owe for any given year. There's some language in the bill that seems to push the remaining credit off to future years, but that's gonna be problematic in any case:
"If income taxes owed by the parent are less than the total credit allowed under this subsection, the taxpayer shall be entitled to a refund or rebate, as the case may be, equal to the balance of the unused credit with respect to that taxable year."
Okay.
The bill is obviously targeted to lower income families (your income must be at or below 150% of the state median, or no credit). Private school tuitions seem to run anywhere from $6000 to $10,000 annually. The tax credit would cut that in half - maybe - but the lower income families most needing to take advantage of the program likely won't even get that much:
If you have no income: no tax credit
If you have an income roughly over $75,000... now you can probably get the entire credit. But that's a pretty stout paycheck for the targeted audience.
The state is relying on provisions intended to encourage businesses and individuals to donate heavily to private schools in the form of scholarships: individuals can can a 100% credit for donations (up to the tax liability); for businesses the limit is 50% credit up to 50% liability.
We'll see if that proves to be enough.
Love it!
On a morning news cast this morning, first words out of all the dims mouths was racists, racists, racists. That is the magic word again. Racism. Play it again Sam.
The wise will take it.
Yes, I know people are concerned about government regulations. Well, there's nothing to prevent Obama from screwing up private ed now, through accreditation, regulation, or the witholding of federal money.
In the worst case scenario, we will revert to the status quo anti. Think it through.
But here's the real benefit.
Under voucher programs, parents become a conservative constituency. God help Obama when he tries to take their vouchers away.
Moreover, parents become used to being customers, rather than school committee brown nosers. Maybe they'll get used to making decisions for themselves, and develop a distaste for serfdom.