F.A.C.E. to FACE   F.A.C.E. BULLETIN     August 12, 2009 Dear Friends, The Friedman Foundation put out a news release regarding a survey of Florida Tax Credit (FTC) parents. John Kirtley released this statement to the media: “These results echo what we hear directly from parents on our program: They are satisfied with their children’s progress and happy with their chosen schools. We know that many low-income families are also pleased with the public schools their children attend. The great news is that they all can choose the learning environment that works best for each child.” An Arizona newspaper published a series of stories last week about abuses of the Arizona Individual School Tuition Tax Credit. The law in Arizona is so different from the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) that our communications department prepared a chart to by way of comparison. Thank you for Stepping Up For Students, Michael A. Benjamin Executive Director, F.A.C.E. Florida Alliance for Choices in Education www.stepupforstudents.com www.flace.org News Release Dramatically higher parental satisfaction found in Florida tax credit scholarship program INDIANAPOLIS (August 6, 2009) -- Parents participating in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program report dramatically higher levels of satisfaction with academic progress, individual attention, teacher quality, school responsiveness, and student behavior when compared to the public schools their children previously attended, according to a study released today by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. “In this first ever empirical evaluation of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program,” we have found remarkably higher levels of parental and family satisfaction with the private schools their children attend” said Robert Enlow, President and CEO of the Indianapolis-based Friedman Foundation. “The opinions of the parents are clear: they appreciate the opportunities given their children under this program, and they appreciate the options that the program gives them.” “Here’s a takeaway from this study: give parents more options and you will see increased levels of satisfaction with the educational enterprise,” he said. The Friedman report is based on a telephone survey of 808 participating parents whose children attended public schools before entering the program. The survey asked parents to compare the educational services they received in their previous public schools with the services they currently receive in private schools. The telephone survey was conducted by Marketing Informatics on July 6-16, 2009. The study was authored by Friedman Senior Fellow Greg Forster and Policy Analyst Christian D’Andrea. Among the findings of the report: 80 percent of the parents are “very satisfied” with the academic progress their children are making in their current private schools, compared to 4 percent in their previous public schools. 80 percent are “very satisfied” with the individual attention their children now receive, compared to 4 percent in public schools. 76 percent are “very satisfied” with the teacher quality in their current schools, compared to 7 percent in public schools. 76 percent are “very satisfied” with their schools’ responsiveness to their needs, compared to 4 percent in public schools. 62 percent are “very satisfied” with the student behavior in their current schools, compared to 3 percent in public schools. Most participating parents were dissatisfied with their public school experiences on most measurements. 58 percent had been “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the academic progress their children were making in public school, compared to 4 percent in their current private schools. 64 percent had been “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the individual attention their children received in public schools, compared to 3 percent in their current schools. 44 percent had been “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with teacher quality in public schools, compared to 3 percent in their current schools. 59 percent had been “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with school responsiveness in public schools, compared to 3 percent in their current schools. 62 percent had been “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with student behavior in public schools, compared with 5 percent in their current schools. Asked to rate their schools on a scale from one to ten, 94 percent of participants gave their current private schools at least a seven, and 54 percent gave them a ten, compared to only 18 percent and 2 percent respectively for their previous public schools. “We think it is significant that of the 128 parents whose children are not likely to be in the program again next year, 81 percent said that dissatisfaction with the program played no role at all in their decision,” Enlow added. “A full 100 percent believe the program should continue even though they aren’t likely to use it again next year themselves. Under the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program, corporations that donate to scholarship funding organizations receive a credit on their corporate income or insurance premium taxes. The scholarship funding organizations use the contributions to provide K-12 private school scholarships to low-income students. Over 23,000 Florida students currently attend private schools using these scholarships. The maximum scholarship is $3,950. Similar programs exist in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Last month, the Indiana General Assembly enacted a new tax credit program in that state. News media contact: Joe DiLaura 317 229-2128 or joe@friedmanfoundation.org To be sure, not all ‘tax credit’ programs are the same The East Valley Tribune published a series of articles Aug. 2-6, 2009, about the Arizona Individual School Tuition Tax Credit, raising legitimate questions about whether the program is properly regulated and keeps faith with the original educational intent. As for whether there are any lessons for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, the reality is that the two programs could hardly be more different. In fact, the only real similarity between the two laws are the two words “tax” and “credit.” Issue Arizona Florida Student eligibility Open to any student, no matter the household income Limited to children whose families qualify forFree or Reduced Lunch, with income verified every year Compliance requirements for participating schools None Surety bond for new schools; fingerprinting and criminal background checks of employees; proof they meet applicable state and local health, safety, and welfare laws, codes, and rules, and fire and building safety codes; adoption of a legislatively required code of ethics. Testing for participating students None Required to annually take and report score from a nationally norm-referenced test approved by state State approval of scholarship organizations None Department of Education must authorize any new scholarship funding organization, and each must submit a full audit each year to Auditor General, governor and DOE. Scholarship organization relationship with schools No restrictions, an organization can be created to fund one school Scholarship organizations cannot limit scholarships to one school and cannot be linked to any school Percentage of donations for administrative purposes 10 percent 3 percent Number of active scholarship organizations 55 2 Taxpayers eligible to receive credit Individuals and couples Corporations Targeted donations Tribune series reports that parents trade “recommendations” that their donations benefit each other’s children Corporations have no control over which schools or which students receive scholarships; scholarship organizations cannot be affiliated with any schools Length of governing statute 588 words 5,422 words The Step Up For Students (SUFS)/Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Scholarship Program currently provides K-12 scholarships to over 23,000 low-income Florida students to attend eligible private schools or out-of-district public schools throughout the state. Income Eligibility Guidelines Income Eligibility Guidelines Number of people in household Total Annual Household Income for New Applicants Total Annual Household Income for Renewal Applicants 2 $26,955 $29,140 3 $33,874 $36,620 4 $40,793 $44,100 5 $47,712 $51,580 For each additional member add $6,919 For each additional member add $7,480

 

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