David Simpson rolls out school choice proposal

[William Tell]

“More choice in education is one of the highest priorities of next session”

Wednesday, David Simpson released his proposal to create more school choice for students and parents across Texas.

“My staff and I have studied this issue for some time and, in the end, we believe giving people choice through educational scholarships is one of the best ways to increase choice, attaching less strings from the government along the way.” commented Simpson

Details of the Simpson plan can be found on his website or below: http://davidsimpson.com/issues/education/

The program allows property owners and businesses to receive a tax credit for making payments to an educational non-profit organization for the purpose of offering scholarships in the form of educational savings accounts (ESAs). This would encourage competition in public and private schools. Parents and students, as customers of education, would drive the market not government mandates.

The primary responsibility for the education of a child rests with parents. They may choose to send their child to public school, private school, or a homeschool. Unfortunately, the current system of school finance gives public schools an advantage over other models regardless of the best interest of the child to be educated.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that students and parents in Texas have more choices in education. Eliminating competition has hurt some of the least advantaged children in our society and it’s time we put an end to it. I am hopeful that Representative Hughes and Red Brown will agree that school choice in education is necessary to ensure a stronger education system for all Texans.” concluded Simpson

Representative Simpson just completed his third regular legislative session in the Texas House. He has consistently been ranked as one of the five most conservative legislators during his tenure in the Texas House of Representatives. More information regarding Simpson’s announcement can be found at http://DavidSimpson.com/.

http://www.gilmermirror.com/view/fu...OICE-PROPOSAL?instance=lead_story_left_column

 

[William Tell]

Longview state Rep. David Simpson on Thursday proposed a way for property and business taxpayers to dedicate all or part of their annual school tax bill to a nonprofit organization that would issue scholarships to pay private school tuition.

Money in the resulting "educational savings accounts" also could be spent for private or public school tutors or home schooling, the Republican said.

"What this will do is create competition within the public school system and outside the system," said Simpson, who is one of four candidates campaigning to succeed GOP state Sen. Kevin Eltife to represent Northeast Texas in Austin.

Simpson, who has opposed spending public funds on private education in the form of vouchers, said his plan does not represent a shift in his position.

"No. I've always believed in tax credits but oppose vouchers," he said. "I've always opposed vouchers, but I've always said if they do it with tax credits and give people freedom to choose, I would support that."

Tax credits are the fuel in Simpson's plan.

A business or resident, he said, could choose to have some or all annual franchise or property tax payment go into the nonprofit educational savings accounts rather than to a local public school.

The taxpayer's payment amount would be unchanged under the plan.

Businesses, Simpson said, would be able to send up to 75 percent of their franchise or property taxes to a nonprofit educational group and receive an equal tax credit on their school levy.

People who don't have school-age children could make a similar swap, while those with school-age children could send their entire school tax bill into the scholarship accounts.

Simpson said public school budgets would not suffer because the plan reduces the number of students they would be teaching.

"They wouldn't be burdened with having to educate the children," he said. "They would still be getting the 25 percent. ... They'll still be getting money on a per-student basis. I think it's a win-win for both."

The scholarships would be available to five groups of students: foster children; those in families whose incomes are at less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level; students with failing grades; special education students; and the children and grandchildren of taxpayers who make payments to the qualified educational nonprofit groups in lieu of their public schools.

"I would like it to cover everybody," he said. "But we wanted to start with the people that would have the least opportunity to do this. Right now, a lot of people pay the school tax and, on top of that, they pay tuition for private school or tutoring within the public school."

Simpson said he was making his proposal as the representative for Gregg and Upshur counties and as a senatorial candidate.

"I do this after a lot of thought working on this issue," he said. "I've worked on it for years. People (with children in alternate settings) come to me and say, 'Hey, I'm really having to pay double here.'"

http://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/nov/06/simpson-wants-option-to-use-tax-credits-for-privat/

 

[euphemia]

Offering tax credits still puts government in the picture. True choice in education means everyone pays their own way.

 

[Dr. Dog]

Offering tax credits still puts government in the picture. True choice in education means everyone pays their own way.

This basically gives you back the money you'd be spending on public schools. Why should someone who sends their kids to private school or homeschool be paying for public schools as well?