School Vouchers as Corporate Tax Write-Offs

With Florida's school voucher plan ruled unconstitutional last year, the privatizers are back with a new, old plan: allow corporations to pay for the vouchers and then have the taxpayers give them a dollar-for-dollar tax break for providing an inadequate education in a private school with no accountability. From The Ledger:

Legislation intended to revive a private-school voucher program the Florida Supreme Court struck down last year cleared the Senate.

The defunct Opportunity Scholarship Program had allowed students from failing public schools attend private schools with state-paid vouchers. The Supreme Court ruled it violated the Florida Constitution's requirement for a uniform system of free public schools. The bill (HB 7145) by Sen. Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, would allow failing school students to obtain vouchers, instead, through another program for students from low-income families. It is financed through corporate income tax credits and was not challenged.

The Senate on Wednesday amended the voucher provision onto the House-passed bill, which otherwise would require Florida's education commissioner to develop a program for improving failing schools. The chamber voted 26-13 for the bill, sending it back to the House.