Idaho governor caves to pressure, sets aside $50 million for ‘school choice’ scheme | Opinion

Idaho Gov. Brad Little is jumping on board the “school choice” freight train.

During his State of the State address Monday, Little announced that his budget includes $50 million “to support education freedom.” (There’s nothing Republicans love more than attaching the word “freedom” to something to make it sound palatable.)

In other words, provide taxpayer dollars to families who want to send their children to private schools.

Little didn’t provide details during his State of the State speech, but House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, in a legislative preview session with reporters on Friday, said the plan is to introduce a refundable tax credit.

A refundable tax credit is an important distinction in a number of ways.

A simple tax credit directly reduces the amount of tax a person owes. For example, if someone owes $1,000 in taxes and has a $200 tax credit, their tax liability is reduced to $800.

If the tax credit exceeds the amount of tax owed, the taxpayer will not receive a refund for the difference. In other words, a nonrefundable tax credit can reduce a person’s tax liability to zero, but it cannot result in a refund.

A refundable tax credit, however, does result in a refund. If the credit exceeds your tax liability, the excess amount is refunded to you.

For example, if someone owes $500 in taxes and is eligible for a $5,500 refundable “school choice” tax credit, that person’s tax liability is reduced to zero, and they would receive a $5,000 refund.

Essentially, it’s a blank check to be used toward tuition at a private school.

Proponents of these schemes have been quick to try to shut down any mention of the word “voucher,” arguing that education savings accounts and tax credits are not vouchers. But we fail to see how a blank check in the form of a refundable tax credit isn’t a voucher.

The only difference is that a voucher is usually an upfront payment, while a refundable tax credit requires the taxpayer to pay the school first and get a tax refund later, after the expense has been incurred.

Moyle said that a refundable tax credit would allow low-income families with low taxes to be able to receive the benefit, which is true.

But one of the biggest knocks against vouchers is that wealthy families already sending their kids to private schools are the main beneficiaries.

A refundable tax credit might benefit these families even more, as a low-income family might not be able to front the cost of a private school tuition with the hopes of getting a tax refund later.

Further, not only are the recipients of tax refunds not participating in helping to pay for Idaho’s public education system like the rest of us (even people without children in school), they are taking our taxpayer dollars to fund their education outside the public school system.

Little has been a staunch supporter of public education in the past. He said Monday that the state has increased public education funding by 80% since he took office, and his budget proposal unveiled Monday includes another $150 million increase in public education funding, including money for rural school buildings and more money for teacher pay increases and health insurance.

In acquiescing to the “school choice” crowd, Little tried to put some sideboards on his $50 million commitment to vouchers by throwing out a bunch of adjectives: The system has to be “fair, responsible, transparent and accountable.”

We hope that by “fair,” Little means that private schools must accept all students regardless of special needs or challenges, just like public schools.

By “responsible,” we hope that means there will be safeguards against fraud and abuse, that phony schools with phony students don’t start popping up, as other states have seen.

By “transparent,” we hope that these funds are subject to public-records laws and receive the same kind of scrutiny that public schools receive.

By “accountable,” we hope that means that any schools are subject to the same state standards as public schools and that a diploma from a private school isn’t just a worthless piece of paper.

Little also said the plan “must prioritize the families that need it most.”

That will be difficult, if not impossible.

Other states, such as Arizona, have struggled with funds going to wealthy families who can already afford private school tuition, resulting in private schools simply raising their tuition after vouchers are approved. We will be watching closely to see whether legislators even try to limit refundable tax credits only to those who “need it most.”

Finally, Little said any plan must not take funds away from public schools.

But on its face, committing $50 million in state funds is taking funds away from public schools. That money would be going toward public schools instead of private schools.

Idaho taxpayers already fund a constitutionally mandated public education system. Under this plan, we would be asked to fund a second, private education system.

We also point out that most states that have these types of private school funding schemes started out with small proposals like this one. Arizona, for example, started out with 12,000 students in its program, and it’s now up to 80,000 students costing more than $800 million.

Can Idaho afford that?

The “school choice” freight train has been running full steam ahead for the past couple of years for Idaho tax dollars.

Idaho has been able to hold it off until now.

Unfortunately, this year, Little has decided to get on board.

Now, it’s the Idaho taxpayer who’s tied to the tracks.

This story was originally published January 6, 2025 at 1:01 PM.