April 4, 2011 2:00PM 

# SCOTUS Issues a Super-Zelman Decision on Education Tax Credits 

By [Adam B. Schaeffer](https://www.cato.org/people/adam-b-schaeffer) 

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Today, the Supreme Court of the United States [issued](http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-987.pdf) the *[Zelman](http://www.ij.org/schoolchoice/1138)* decision for education tax credits. More than that, it’s *Super-Zelman*.

The findings in *Zelman* apply just as well to [education tax credit programs](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8812), but only credit programs allow taxpayers to spend their *own* money on education.

As Andrew Coulson [explained](https://www.cato.org/victory-supreme-court-upholds-education-tax-credits/) in detail earlier, the Court ruled that education tax credits are not government funds, and the plaintiffs therefore have no standing to bring suit in the first place. They were not harmed because none of their money was collected and then disburse by the state.

Children are rightly our primary concern, but *taxpayers* deserve more [consideration](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzvKyfV3JtE) than they often get in debates over education reform.

Education tax credit programs can expand educational choice and freedom while respecting the preferences and values of the individual taxpayers who *earned* that money in the first place.

Voucher programs simply cannot provide this kind of accountability to both parents *and* taxpayers.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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