Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly M. Esmond Adams dismissed on Friday, February 5, a lawsuit challenging the Georgia Education Expense Credit program. Four taxpayers sued the state over the program claiming tax credits are “an allocation of government resources” and therefore unconstitutional. Adams ruled tax credits are not government resources, stating, “Courts that have already considered whether a tax credit is an expenditure of public revenue have answered this question in the negative.”
The following statements from education experts at The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Director of Communications Jim Lakely at [email protected] and 312/377-4000.
“State governments give income tax credits for charitable giving to food banks, community-action programs, relief for military families, and many other causes. Surely a citizen’s decision to donate his or her own money to support the awarding of K–12 scholarships to needy students is no less deserving of a tax break.
“Commendably, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Esmond Adams followed U.S. Supreme Court precedent in ruling that charitable dollars flowing to Georgia’s scholarship program are wholly private funds not subject to being blocked by plaintiffs claiming to represent taxpayers. Private scholarships help many students find educational opportunities that they lack in public schools while taking a bit of pressure off public-school budgeting.”
Robert G. Holland
Senior Fellow, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“Judge Adams’ ruling is great news for the 13,000+ Peach State children who make use of the Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit to attend schools of their family’s choice. School choice offers families equal access to high-quality schools that meet their widely diverse needs and desires.
“Instead of unjustly condemning thousands of Georgia children to poor-quality public schools because their parents cannot afford to pay private school tuition, as opponents would like, this tax credit program gives these families a greater opportunity to meet each child’s unique education needs.
“Unfortunately, fewer than 1 percent of Georgia schoolchildren can currently take advantage of this program as it is currently budgeted, so here’s hoping the legislature will now use this ruling as an opportunity to expand it.”
Tim Benson
Policy Analyst
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“This ruling follows prior precedence in ruling tax credits are not government expenditures. This is great news for the children of Georgia who want to choose an education option that fits their personal needs instead of being mandated to attend a school because of their address.
“The Georgia legislature should immediately raise or eliminate the artificial cap on the Education Expense Credit program allowing more interested donors to donate and opening this opportunity to many more students in Georgia.”
Lennie Jarratt
Project Manager, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“I applaud the wisdom of the Georgia courts for upholding the state’s school choice program, but I wonder what can be done in other states with laws and courts not so friendly to choice? In those states not so lucky as Georgia, there are many private avenues to choice that should be explored and developed.”
David V. Anderson
Senior Fellow, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“The Georgia Superior Court decision allowing for tuition tax credits is good news for Georgia citizens and students. The bad news is that any of these lawsuits are even considered. It is long past time for courts to establish the legal principle that money should follow the child and not the school district.”
Bruno Behrend
Senior Fellow, Education Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
The Heartland Institute is a 32-year-old national nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.
Robert Holland, a journalist and author who has championed school choice throughout his career, is a Heartland Institute Senior Fellow addressing education policy.
Tim Benson joined The Heartland Institute in September 2015 as a policy analyst in the Government Relations Department.
Lennie Jarratt is the former director of the Center for Education Opportunities at The Heartland Institute
Bruno Behrend, J.D., is a senior fellow for education policy at The Heartland Institute.
