The Public Education Tax Credit: Expanding Educational Opportunity in Virginia

The Public Education Tax Credit: Expanding Educational Opportunity in Virginia

By: Lindsey M. Burke

Calling for an aggressive expansion of Virginia’s school choice program, The Public Education Tax Credit identifies the challenges we face with K-12 education in the Commonwealth, as well as the solution.

From the report:

“From 1970 to 2009, total inflation-adjusted education spending in Virginia increased significantly, from $700 million to $13.5 billion.”
“Just 39 percent of fourth-graders and 36 percent of eighth-graders are proficient in reading. In fact, since 1998, 8th grade reading scores have remained flat.”
“According to the Institute for Education Sciences, 46 percent of Virginia fourth-graders are proficient in math; just 40 percent of 8th graders have achieved proficiency.”
The problem with K-12 education in Virginia is not a lack of funding, but a lack of accountability that one can expect from a monopoly service provider.

Markets are efficient. They reward success and punish failure in pretty short order. Competition requires entrepreneurs, employers, and employees to perform.

Monopolies, due to a lack of competition, produce poor quality products and services with unsustainable associated costs. In recent years, how many times have we heard that no matter what the performance level, government employees can’t be fired? In such a scenario, how long does it take for unionized government employees to become contemptuous of their “customers” (i.e., parents and taxpayers)?

School choice creates an environment in which entrepreneurs will always be working overtime to best each other by keeping parents happy with the educational progress of their children. Download your copy of The Public Education Tax Credit: Expanding Educational Opportunity in Virginia today!