The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush in January 2001. In the remarks he made when signing the act, Mr Bush characterized its aim as ensuring "every child receive a first-class education in America.”
In his budget for fiscal year 2003, President Bush proposed a refundable tax credit. Parents are eligible if they transfer a child from an identified failing public school to a private school, including those with a religious affiliation, or another public school. If enacted by Congress, the tax credit would refund up to 50 percent, or $2,500, of the first $5,000 in tuition, fees and transportation costs directly to the parent. The President estimates that the program will cost $3.7 billion over five years.
The tax credit would work like a refund check and be available to any eligible parent, regardless of income bracket. Because the money goes directly to the parent, the program sidesteps the potential Constitutional question that a voucher program for private schools would raise, but could still have serious church-state implications. This tax credit could hurt public education and undermine accountability for how public education dollars are spent. In fact, public schools and public school children could be victims, rather than beneficiaries. Rather than proposing the federal money promised in the No Child Left Behind Act, the President's budget takes money that could be used for public schools and the education of at-risk children and proposes to indirectly invest in private schools. Unlike public schools, private schools are not accountable to taxpayers and are certainly not subject to the accountability reforms enacted in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Before Bush signed the new tax cut law on May 28, low-income families received a refund of $600 per child or 10 percent of their income in excess of $10,500, whichever was lower...........
