Bob Schaffer: “The education tax credit proposal, in my mind, is one of the most exciting reforms we have seen here in Congress here in…”

“The education tax credit proposal, in my mind, is one of the most exciting reforms we have seen here in Congress here in a long, long time. Its appeal is that it fosters school choice and more flexibility, really a market approach to American education, and it does so in a way that appeals more broadly across the political spectrum here in Washington and among the traditional education organizations than anything we have seen before. It is better than vouchers because it is not a voucher at all. It does not represent the kind of strategy vouchers represent, but at the same time, it does promote school choice by focusing on students rather than institutions, and it is nondiscriminatory in its treatment of American school children. It is more fair than what we do today with conventional public education. It is far more fair than what would be proposed with something like vouchers, for example. Here is how it works. It starts with the premise and the reality that every American is going to send a certain amount of cash, assuming they are taxpayers, to Washington, D.C.”