The Orthodox Union (OU) has long pressed the case for education tax credits. They are smart policy and, we think, good politics too. But more than that, in this fiscal environment, they make financial sense. Every child not in a public school saves taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars each year.

Today, while at a U.S. Department of Education conference to save Urban Faith Based schools, we heard how in state after state with tax credits, they enjoy, broad bipartisan support that gets broader and deeper each year. Vouchers may or may not be the province of the “vast right wing” conspiracy, but education tax credits seem to have support from so many.

Sadly, that support is not everywhere. This year, BOAST (Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers) – a tax credit program the OU continues to strongly support, that would help Maryland families and schools across the state – fell victim to special interest politics. But the real victims are students at Towson Catholic High School, as reported by our friends at the Maryland Public Policy Institute.

As they say:

Some have called the school a victim of the recession — $160,000 in tuition went unpaid last year. But the bigger culprit is inertia in Annapolis. For years, legislators have mulled tax credit legislation that would make millions more available each year to public and private schools and save the state millions in the process.

To read this article in its entirety, please click here.

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