Governor Spitzer could actually be good for kids!

 

Another article on Spitzer and education tax credits.

Education tax credits have been on the rise across the nation. In the past year, Arizona, Rhode Island, and Iowa have all passed new programs, and Pennsylvania expanded its existing business tax credit for donations to private scholarship funds. The Arizona and Iowa bills both got past Democratic governors, and the Rhode Island business tax credit came about in a legislature controlled by Democrats in both houses.

At $330 per child, the current New York tax credit is paltry, but its political implications are enormous: an ambitious Democrat has embraced education tax credits in a true-blue state. Like Bill Clinton signing on to “end welfare as we know it,” the acceptance of the principle and the approach matters greatly. President Clinton didn’t want to go all the way with the Republican welfare plan. But his acceptance of the conservative conception of the problem and the range of solutions moved the political center of gravity to a point that allowed their victory.

The politics of school choice is changing, too, and school-choice supporters need to take advantage of it. Supporters of school choice should take advantage of Spitzer’s overtures to raise their expectations and push for educational freedom on a much more meaningful scale.

-------------------

November 02, 2006, 6:13 a.m.

Credit Where Due
Governor Spitzer could actually be good for kids!

By Adam B. Schaeffer, National Review

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NmQ4MTEzZDJjY2Y2Y2MwNmE1Zjk4ZTE1YmE5MGI0MDE=

With Eliot Spitzer running almost 50 points ahead in New York’s gubernatorial “race,” it seems safe to crown him the winner. Most of us know Spitzer for his anti-corporate adventures as the state’s swashbuckling attorney general, but although he might be bad for business, he could be surprisingly good for kids.