Oh, And One More Thing About Special Needs Scholarships...

In our discussion yesterday about the benefits of special needs scholarship programs, we failed to mention that public support for school voucher (and scholarship tax credit) programs for children with special needs is overwhelming.

Seriously, these types of programs are off-the-charts popular. Case in point: North Carolina.

In the Tar Heel State, school choice advocates, led by the highly effective group Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, are fighting to pass a special needs scholarship tax credit.

They polled public support for the program, and the numbers were astronomical: A February 2011 poll found that 82 percent of likely Democratic voters favor a program that would allow special needs children to attend a nonpublic school that meets their needs.
Yes...you read that right. Likely Democratic voters.

Eighty-two percent support special needs scholarships!

Wow.

Now, here's the nitty gritty of the bill:

-- The Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities Act, House Bill 344, which passed the Education Committee on April 26, would provide tax credits up to $6,000 for parents of special needs children for nonpublic tuition and other services.

-- North Carolina has nearly 200,000 special needs children in public schools.  Currently, North Carolina pays $8,160 and school districts pay $1,931 per student to attend a public school that often fails students with special needs.  This program will create more educational options to children and be a financial lifeline to hundreds of thousands of families.

-- Experts say that up to five percent of qualified students would take advantage of the tax credit, which would save the state $10 million per year and school districts $9.2 million per year.

Learn more at www.pefnc.org

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, ARC