Adam B. Schaeffer (Author at The Cato Institute)

School Tax Credit Can Help Kids and the State (Commentary)

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

New Jersey is in deep financial trouble, and government estimates keep get ting worse. The most recent budget deficit prediction tripled the last one, concluding that the state might be $1.2 billion in the hole. The bad news doesn't end there. The economic slowdown is prompting many families who...

Cato Scholar Comments on Obama's and McCain's Education Policies (Scholar Comments)

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain on K-12 education policy center on school choice and funding. McCain is more supportive of school choice and local control than Obama, and Obama supports a much larger increase in federal education spending.

While both candidates speak favorably about school choice, only John McCain supports policies like vouchers and education tax credits that would allow parents to choose any school that works for their child, public or private. Barack Obama speaks mainly of "accountability" for public charter schools, which is often used by political actors who wish to restrict the relative freedom of action and independence that make charter schools attractive to many parents.

Barack supports a large, $18 billion increase in federal education spending, with $10 billion of that increase devoted to an expanded federal effort in early education and preschool. Preschool has, however, been shown to be expensive and ineffective at increasing long-term achievement.

McCain proposes to hold spending at the same levels and focus on expanding virtual education, tutoring and school choice, and encouraging local reforms.

This Tax Credit Pays (Commentary)

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Even as the debate continues on whether vouchers help improve education, New York lawmakers should have an eye on another important benefit of programs that make it easier for families to choose private schools: huge savings for state and local governments. New York state faces a budget hole as h...

Cato Scholars Comment on the 2008 Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll on Education (Scholar Comments)

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

In 1999, the last year PDK/Gallup asked about education tax credits, 57 percent of the public supported credits to cover the full cost of private school tuition and 65 percent of the public supported tax credits for part of the cost. Instead of asking clear and informative questions about vouchers and education tax credits in 2008, however, the survey recycles a generic, biased, and discredited question they introduced after support for vouchers began to climb in their own surveys. The PDK/Gallup poll now asks about a respondent's support for 'allowing students and parents to choose a private school at public expense.' This loaded and abstract language is meant to lower what other more balanced polls have shown is deep and widespread support for school choice and for education tax credits in particular.That's one reason Georgia passed a new tax credit program this year and why Arizona, Rhode Island, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Florida all recently passed or expanded education tax credit programs with crucial bipartisan support from Democrats.