READER RESPONSE -- School choice at issue

Jerry Ewing passes along another example of school choice being bargained away that also supports my contention of the political difficulty of passing a tax credit for business, even if it supports education.

The school choice legislation was part of a vetoed budget bill and would have built upon an individual tax credit by allowing corporations to make contributions to Scholarship Tuitioning Organizations, which in turn distribute scholarships worth up to $4,200 for mostly low-income students in grades K-8 and $5,500 for high school students.

“It’s unfortunate that for the moment this bipartisan agreement has been turned on its head,” said Gordon St. Angelo, president and CEO of the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation. “Children in Arizona shouldn’t have to wait for greater educational freedom because of legislative wrangling.”

King Banaian at SCSU Scholars comments on my yesterday’s columnin the Pioneer Press on making Minnesota’s school choice initiatives part of the ill-advised “Health Impact Fee” ultimatum. King agrees that now might be a good time for Governor Pawlenty to reinvigorate the school choice issue by noting --

As Republicans search for leaders that actually have courage, it might be a good time for Pawlenty to step up.