Tax credit scholarship program passed by Senate today 'directly benefits families '
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (April 14, 2021)– Today, The Reform Alliance (TRA) congratulated the Arkansas Senate for passing SB680, which would create a tax credit scholarship program for K-12 students.
The bill will now go to the Arkansas House of Representatives for committee assignment. If enacted, individuals or organizations would receive a full tax credit for making donations to fund scholarships for students to attend private schools. The funding for tax credits and program administration, which is capped at $2 million, would be deducted from general revenue, not from education funding.
“Arkansas has recently approved tax credits for a wide range of causes, like water development and railroad modernization,” said Emmy Henley, TRA’s managing director. “This would work like other tax credits, but it would be unique in that it directly benefits families by giving struggling students equal access to educational opportunities that have been out of reach financially.”
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, said children from low-income families should not be trapped in situations where their needs are not being met just because their parents don’t have the means to access resources that could give them a better chance of success.
“This is about allowing parents to make decisions for their children,” Dismang said. “Poor children are not the property of our public schools … All parents deserve to have the opportunity to best shape their child’s future.”
ABOUT THE REFORM ALLIANCE: The Reform Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring every K-12 student in Arkansas has equal access to a world-class education. The Reform Alliance is proud to manage the Succeed Scholarship at no cost to the State of Arkansas. Even small expenses like the cost of mailing checks to schools are paid for by a private foundation grant. Free educational resources and more information about The Reform Alliance are available at thereformalliance.org.
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