To: Senate Finance and Taxation
From: Christopher Dodson, Executive Director
Subject: HB 1281 - Tax Credits for Nonpublic Students
Date: March 9, 2021
All children have a right to a state-supported education. This right is rooted in who we are as human persons and the obligations of the political community to concretely assist in the development of all children so that they can reach their full potential.
Just as all children have a right to a state-supported education, all parents have a right to choose the best educational setting for their children. Parents are the primary educators of their children and best know what educational setting suits their particular children.
The two rights are not mutually exclusive and treating them such violates both the child’s and the parent’s basic human rights. Efforts to help families that home educate or have children in nonpublic schools is not about weakening the public school system. Instead, they are attempts to wrong an injustice in our current educational system.
House Bill 1281 seeks to correct that injustice and it does so without negating the state’s obligations to public schools in any way. Nor does it violate the state or federal constitutions.
We urge a Do Pass recommendation on House Bill 1281.
From: Christopher Dodson, Executive Director
Subject: HB 1281 - Tax Credits for Nonpublic Students
Date: March 9, 2021
All children have a right to a state-supported education. This right is rooted in who we are as human persons and the obligations of the political community to concretely assist in the development of all children so that they can reach their full potential.
Just as all children have a right to a state-supported education, all parents have a right to choose the best educational setting for their children. Parents are the primary educators of their children and best know what educational setting suits their particular children.
The two rights are not mutually exclusive and treating them such violates both the child’s and the parent’s basic human rights. Efforts to help families that home educate or have children in nonpublic schools is not about weakening the public school system. Instead, they are attempts to wrong an injustice in our current educational system.
House Bill 1281 seeks to correct that injustice and it does so without negating the state’s obligations to public schools in any way. Nor does it violate the state or federal constitutions.
We urge a Do Pass recommendation on House Bill 1281.
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