Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Arizona tuition tax credit program does not violate constitutional separation of church and state.
The Cato Institute’s Andrew Coulson is calling for a wider adoption of tax credit programs to fund school choice following today’s decision.
“With this ruling, the way forward for the school choice movement is clearer than it has ever been. Education tax credits–both the scholarship form operating in Arizona and the direct form operating in Illinois and Iowa–allow for universal access to the education marketplace without forcing any citizen to subsidize instruction that violates their convictions. No other school choice system offers that advantage and it is an advantage that is central to the values of our nation.”
The tax credit program allows Arizona residents to receive a dollar to dollar tax credit (up to $500, or $1,000 for married couples) for all gifts to organizations providing scholarships to private schools. More than 27,000 children in Arizona are attending private school through the tax credit program this year. And another 3,600 Arizona children benefit from a corporate tax credit program also.
You can read the full Supreme Court opinion here.