As persistent advocates of constitutionally permissible aid to those families with children in nonpublic schools, we at the OU are pleased to see the state of Minnesota and the group “School Choice Now – Spartanburg” of South Carolina are both looking towards implementing school choice initiatives.
The Mankato Free Press reports – A proposed education-related tax credit met with enthusiastic support from some local educators during a public forum Thursday [December 11] in New Ulm. But wider support for the measure will be tougher to garner.
Authored in the House by Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, and in the Senate by Linda Scheid, DFL-Brooklyn Park, the Equity and Opportunity Educational Tax Credit is aimed at encouraging donations to school foundations and nonprofits that benefit low-income students. The measure proposes limits for both individual and corporate donors as well as a statewide cap of $10 million.
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GoUpstate.com (The Spartanburg Newspaper) reports – A new, informal group called “School Choice Now – Spartanburg” has sprouted as a grassroots effort to promote its ideas and make contact with legislators as certain bills wind their way through the Statehouse.
Headed by Brantlee Fulmer, the chief executive of Merryland Child Development Center, and Nicole Cobb, a local Republican activist, School Choice Now has met twice and is building an e-mail list to reach its members. About 15 people attended the first meeting. The second one was on a weeknight and saw fewer attendees. The next meeting likely will take place after the holidays and once the Legislature is in session, Fulmer said.
Initially, Fulmer said School Choice Now was following the lead of South Carolinians for Responsible Government, or SCRG, but later expanded upon that. School Choice Now is taking ideas and information from different groups with similar beliefs and choosing what it likes and doesn’t like to support, she said.
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