Lawmaker: Stop beating dead horse on school tax credits

Steve Yarbrough, AZ I See It 7:52 a.m. MST November 16, 2015

Steve Yarbrough(Photo: handout)

I applaud your editorial support for the mosaic of school choice in Arizona ("How to keep school choice working for Arizona," Nov. 9.)

Whether public district school open enrollment, public charter schools, online schools, scholarship tax credits to help with private school tuition, or Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (the one form you did not mention) to purchase a wide variety of educational services, I am on record in support of all of them.

But being again wrongfully singled out for a "conflict of interest" allegation because I am CEO of a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that receives scholarship tax credit donations and gives scholarships to students is not justified.

It is indeed beating the proverbial dead horse.

We are a citizen legislature and most of us work somewhere besides the capitol.

Not unlike K-12 public district or charter school teachers, community college or university instructors, charter school owners, DES contract service providers, or other jobs with some connection to state government, the conflict of interest allegation has been repeatedly and thoroughly found to be without legal merit according to House and Senate rules attorneys.

Additionally, to suggest that charities like the one I serve could operate without any administrative allowance is disingenuous. School Tuition Organizations are required to operate on no more than 10 percent of donations for administration and this is far lower than most charitable organizations spend on administration.

It is really a proposal to extinguish the program wrapped in the guise of support.

Yes, I am a "staunch champion" of school choice in all of its various forms. It saves the taxpayers money and delivers improved student academic achievement. It is truly a win/win for Arizona students and taxpayers.

Finally, I am also an advocate for proper funding of K-12 public education.

As I explained when voting for all three of the recent K-12 public school funding bills, there is no good reason that school choice funding should be a partisan issue.

Students, regardless of the legal design of their school, should be our priority.

Steve Yarbrough is majority leader in the Arizona Senate.

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