Indiana earns ‘B’ grade on state education tax credit scorecard
Tribune Star
September 30, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Indiana ranks fifth-strongest of the 16 states that have education tax credit programs, earning a “B” grade according to the second edition of “School Choice Today: Education Tax Credit Laws Across the States, Ranking and Scorecard 2015,” released by the Center for Education Reform. In all, two states earn A’s, three earn B’s, seven earn C’s, three earn D’s and one earns an F. The report provides analysis and state-by-state comparisons, ranking states not only based on the law itself, but real results of programs.
“Over 200,000 students are benefiting from tax credit scholarships today,” said Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform. “As the momentum for choice programs grows, with half of these 16 states enacting tax credit programs in the last three years, it’s essential to evaluate which elements foster the creation of meaningful choices to the most number of students. Simply having a law alone does not translate into more and better opportunities for children.”
Indiana has a relatively large program, designed to include both low- and middle-income families with its reasonably high income cap, which is why it currently serves over 11,000 students in the state. The program is growing quickly despite some design drawbacks, and served more than double the amount of students this past school year compared to 2013. One drawback is that Indiana’s law only allows donors to take a tax credit for half of the donation value.
The scorecard methodology has been revamped from last year’s analysis, placing greater emphasis on participation and implementation, and taking a deeper look at rules and regulations governing programs. There are four major components that determine the strength of high-quality education tax credit programs across the states: participation and purchasing power, eligibility, credit design and operational autonomy.
“States that implement tax credit programs well will see reductions in overall expenditures in addition to growth in investments in K-12 education,” continued Kerwin. “This fairly simple concept of allowing individuals, businesses or both to claim a tax credit for contributions made to scholarship organizations provides big benefits, with the most important being a shift in the power to choose a school from bureaucrats to parents.”
“The goal of this ranking and analysis is to provide a roadmap for lawmakers, parents and advocates to bring about substantive and lasting change,” said Kerwin. “We look forward to furthering debate and discourse to ensure laws being enacted are indeed fostering a marketplace where parents have the power to make choices among excellent options.”
To view the scorecard visit staging.edreform.com/2015/09/education-tax-credit-laws-across-the-states-ranking-and-scorecard-2015/.
