Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis has called the tax credit scholarship program created by recent education funding reform a “voucher program,” a characterization that lacks nuance, according to the Better Government Association (BGA).
The BGA recently published a fact check of CTU criticism of the new program, arguing that a voucher program uses state funds to help some children attend private schools, meaning that the funding must be appropriated. Scholarship programs, on the other hand, use private donations through private organizations and give tax credits in return.
CTU policy adviser Kurt Hilgendorf explained the union’s position to the BGA by arguing that the mechanism for a scholarship and voucher program are functionally the same and that using the term "scholarship" allows the state to avoid constitutional issues in providing public funds to parochial schools.
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis
| www.ctunet.com
The BGA acknowledged that if the CTU is defining a voucher program as any program that sends public money to private schools, then Lewis’ statement could be seen as true. But it added that those familiar with the issue of school choice make distinctions between voucher programs and tax credit scholarship programs.
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