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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2001
Our View
One to watch
Educational tax credit, privacy bill
will face serious challenges.
The 2001 session of the Virginia General
Assembly is barely two weeks old, and one bill
currently making its way through the legislature promises to initiate spirited controversy.
House Bill 1961, "The Virginia Children's Educational Opportunity Act of 2001" — our own Delegate Jay Katzen (R-31st) as chief patron — establishes income tax credits for tuition and other fees charged by public or private schools, and for certain fees incurred by parents who are home-schooling.
While low-income families could receive a 100-percent credit for school costs, for others the cap is set at $500 per year for 2002, with increases of $500 per year until 2006, when the credit would top out at $2,500 per year.
Support for home-schooling is limited to $200 per child in 2002, and increases in $100 annual increments until it reaches $500.
Vouchers revisited? Not really. With the strict limits and the focus on low-income family assistance and home-schooling, the bill deserves serious consideration — and debate.
HB 1961 is now under scrutiny in a finance subcommittee, which will soon issue a critical fiscal impact statement. No doubt, concern about a reduction in the money allocated to our public schools will be at the forefront — as it should be. Stay tuned.
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