Report: School choice tax credits pay off

(The Center Square) – Private school students who pay tuition using taxpayer-funded scholarships achieve higher academic proficiencies than their public school counterparts, according to a recent report.

The analysis, compiled by the Commonwealth Foundation, a policy group that focuses on fiscal conservancy, looked at the demographics of nearly 78,000 students who received financial aid through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit or the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit programs in the 2021-22 school year.

Rachel Langan, senior education policy analyst, said the results found an inverse relationship between students living in low-achieving schools and the number of scholarships awarded, suggesting that the program is helping families in neighborhoods with the greatest need.

“This shows that the programs are well-run and the schools are good stewards of the taxpayer funds they are receiving,” she said.

For advocates, the foundation’s conclusions back up the notion that private schools do more for student achievement with far less money than traditional public schools. According to the report, the state spends nearly $22,000 per student, while average yearly private school tuition runs $12,000.

“This report demonstrates high demand and significant results,” said Nathan Benefield, the foundation’s senior vice president. “If the past is any indication, demand for tax credit scholarships will continue to rise, showing the remarkable success of the program and the desire of parents to find the best educational option for their children.”

According to the data, the average family income for scholarship recipients ranged between roughly $41,000 and $73,000 annually, well below the statewide median of $93,000. The average EITC and OSTC awards are $2,583 and $1,853, respectively.

Demographics for students living in Philadelphia and its surrounding collar counties – Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery – illustrate the point even more starkly. Here, the median household income for scholarship families is just under $41,000, compared to nearly $58,000 across Philadelphia. Seventy percent live in the state’s lowest-performing districts, and 80% identify as people of color.

Keisha Jordan, president and CEO of Childrens Scholarship Fund of Philadelphia, said these same students outperformed their public school peers on math and reading tests, both in fourth and seventh grade. Ninety-nine percent graduate on time and 72% enroll in college.

Jordan said 61% of seventh-grade scholarship students read at or above proficiency, compared to 38% in the School District of Philadelphia. The gap in math proficiency is much wider: 54% of scholarship students score at or above grade level, while only 19% of district students do the same.

School choice critics, however, say decades of underfunding explain the achievement gaps. Diverting public money to private schools is not only unconstitutional, they say, but makes the problem worse.

The state’s new budget , signed into law on July 11, earmarks $811 million in new spending. More than two-thirds of the money funnels to districts based on a newly reconstituted formula that weighs socioeconomic needs.

Doing so, lawmakers say, acknowledges a February court order to redirect school resources more equitably.