Public School Group Opposes Scholarship Plan

The Missouri School Boards’ Association is expressing concern about a piece of legislation that could come up for debate in the House as early as this week. It’s House Bill 639, which would create tax credits for individuals or corporations contributing to a program to provide scholarships to the neediest students in low-performing school districts. The Association’s Brent Ghan says this is really a school voucher proposal in disguise because the tax credits would actually take taxpayer dollars out of the state’s general revenue fund. That, he says, would result in money being taken from public schools. Ghan says the problem is not with the creation of scholarships for poorer students, it’s the tax credit that goes along with the scholarships.