NH and Virginia Add Voucher Programs

Posted 29 June 2012 by

New Hampshire and Virginia became the latest states to offer greater school choice for lower-income students, with both enacting tax-credit scholarship programs this week. In Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell signed the act into law. In New Hampshire, the legislature adopted a scholarship plan by overriding Gov. John Lynch’s veto.

Under tax-credit scholarship programs, government provides tax credits to individuals and corporations that donate to nonprofits, which, in turn, distribute scholarships for students to attend private schools. Virginia and New Hampshire now join Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island as states that offer such programs.  Usually, students must be from low-income families and/or attending low-performing schools, to receive such scholarships.  In some cases, the scholarships are adequate to pay tuition at certain private schools, but in most cases, parents must supplement the scholarships with other funds.

The New Hampshire and Virginia programs both set eligibility at 300 percent of the federal poverty level (or $69,150 for a family of four). New Hampshire’s scholarships cannot exceed $2,500 on average, whereas Virginia’s will be worth the amount the state pays for a student to attend public school, which differs by school district.

Post Details

«
»

One Response to NH and Virginia Add Voucher Programs

  1. Anshul says:
    August 26, 2012 at 10:58 pm

    If there ever was a story that shows us who Obama is, I think that it is this one. I watched him oplney proclaim that he would support whatever works in regards to helping in the educational plight of these young people. When it becomes evident that this program is delivering a better education for far less money it seems clear what the right thing to do is. Many children and their parents are thrilled to have Obama come out verbally in favor of what is clearly working for them” while costing much less. This is his constituency the people he should most be championing. To see that it was just lip service and that he is so beholden to a system that refuses to reform despite constantly demanding more money .I can see clearly who Obama is. These people who voted for him see who he is and I think they are ashamed. There is not excuse. As someone center right, I supported Obama s energy that he seemed to have. He seemed to transcend politics. Not any more He too seems like a normal politician since he 1.Rewarded all his friends (including many unsavory ones) vs. doing things that actually building up the engine of our society to actually provide the means to help those less fortunate.2.Run up massive spending without a hope of much of an economic recovery in the near future.3.Failed those families in D.C. who were so inspired by who he could have been. He took from them something that he promised to do that could clearly be a baby step for government accountability and results. My personal feeling is that continuing this voucher program would do more to help the public education system in DC than anything else. It would have been doing them and the entire country a favor. They would have been better off in 5 years for sure than they will be now. You can t continue to get worse for a decade while spending 5x more money for ever declining results without eventually hitting rock bottom. This just puts rock bottom a little lower for them.