Take the Credit

12-11-2022Pastor's LetterFr. John Bonavitacola

Dear Friends,

It’s amusing and I admit sometimes annoying to stand behind someone who is unfamiliar with the menu and trying to order at the In-n-Out Burger. They are desperately scanning the menu board for choices. And that’s just it, there are few choices on their menu: burger or cheeseburger and fries.

You can sense that new customers are perplexed and even perturbed at the lack of choices. It’s really amazing that In-n-Out has done so well in a culture that has been marinated in “choice” and “variety”. And if you are 25 or younger you were born, raised and nurtured on “choice”. This generation (Generation X) demands choice and has an incredible threshold for tolerance. The rest of us may not be as insistent on choice but we can hardly escape this cultural marketing standard: will it be brand name or generic, HMO or PPO, Coke or Pepsi, fat-free or full flavor, foreign or domestic, crispy or extra crispy, new or original. And on and on… Too much choice can become wearying, and I think that’s why we at times prefer the simplicity and straightforwardness of a place like In-n-Out. But by and large having choices does help us tailor life to our human needs and development. By expanding certain choices, we can create better opportunities for all.

So, what about choice in education? It’s the one area that we have yet to really expand choices. Despite the evidence that demonstrates that giving parents a choice in what school to send their children to improves the education of the young and the overall educational environment, we still lack choices. But not all of us do. Those who can afford it are able to choose what school to use. Those who can’t are denied the same choice because of income disparity. It comes down to “educational justice”: will we give every child the same opportunity or sentence some of them to failed schools, poor quality and hence an uncertain future?

But… Here in Arizona, we now have real choice in education. This year the Legislature expanded the ESA or Empowerment Scholarship Accounts from a small group (adoptive and foster care families, military families) to EVERY K-12 student in the state! This means each student can apply for an ESA and receive up to $7,000 to use for tuition, books and uniforms to attend any school in Arizona! This has made a huge difference for parents and has helped invigorate the educational environment in our state. Every parent now has a choice, a real choice in choosing what education best suits their student: public school, charter school, private or parochial school or home school.

This obviously in good news for parents, especially parents of elementary school age children. The average cost for a private K-8th school is between $5 and $7,000 (the average cost the state spends per pupil for Public schools is around $8,800). However, that is more than doubled for High School. Still more good news, as the Arizona Tax Credit for Private Schools is still in effect. Parents can apply for funding through one of the state’s Student Tuition Organizations, such as Catholic Education Arizona and receive financial tuition assistance. Students can not use both programs at the same time. But hopefully with the Universal ESA much of the Tax Credit funds can be used for High School tuition.

We in Arizona are fortunate enough to have some ability to make educational choices. Now is the time for every Arizona taxpayer to donate to the Tuition Organizations in the state. I particularly urge you to donate to the one we have set up: Catholic Tuition Organization Diocese of Phoenix (CTODP). The funds that are donated are given to parents to pay tuition. Unlike other Tuition Organizations in the state, we do not permit you to earmark a specific student, but you can earmark it for a specific school. We do this because it fulfills the requirements of Catholic social teaching that calls us to help first the disadvantaged and economically poor. If we have extra after meeting those needs, then we divide it up among all those parents who applied for funds.

Arizona has a variety of Tax Credits that enable you to earmark where your state tax dollars go. This includes Tax Credits for Private Schools, Public Schools, Organizations like St. Vincent de Paul, Crisis Pregnancy Centers, and other organizations that work with the poor. You can divide your tax liability among all of these or some of these or just one of these. The organization you donate to will send you a tax receipt and you can generally use the 1040 form without itemizing and still claim the tax credits.

Arizona parents now how real choice in education. In -n-Out Burger customers not so much. But I like it that way!

Love, Fr. John B.