The editorial board of the Albany Times-Union explains the economics behind Governor Cuomo’s proposal for “Education Tax Credits.”

 

It is a voucher plan with a different name, usually offered by rightwing Republicans, not Democrats who claim to be progressive.

 

The rhetoric is about “parental choice,” but the big beneficiaries would be wealthy donors to private and religious schools.

 

For those who support private and parochial education systems, with a true spirit of generosity, we say good for them. But tax revenue shouldn’t be diverted away from state coffers – which is what tax credits end up doing – so more money makes its way to private schools.

 

 

One controversial part of the bill includes access to tax credits –75 percent of any gift up to $1 million – for donors. The pool of money for the tax credits is limited; the dollars would be doled out on a first-come, first-served basis. Large corporations with fancy accounting firms can quickly grab the tax credits, and mom-and-pop donors would likely be left wanting.

 

 

Especially for high-income corporations, a tax credit is exponentially more valuable than the current tax deductions available for charitable giving to nonprofit institutions, including private or parochial schools.

 

 

There’s a big difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit: A tax deduction reduces your taxable income, so your taxes are based on a lower amount; a tax credit comes off your tax liability, so it’s cut off the bottom line of what you owe in taxes….

 

 

A similar education tax credit bill failed to pass last year, and the year before, for good reason. It’s a thinly disguised voucher system that’s being touted as “fair” even as the state continues to use out-of-whack funding formulas to provide constitutionally mandated support for public schools, and to squelch on past funding owed to districts across New York.

 

 

Regardless of Cuomo’s best efforts to push “options” to public education and weaken his newest political nemesis, public-school teachers, the state’s Constitutional mandate continues to be the financial support of a public school system, with state funding of specific services provided to private schools. Not the other way around.