Education Tax Credits: School Choice Initiatives Capable of Surmounting Blaine Amendments
Jonathan D. Boyer, 43 Colum. J.L. & Soc. Probs. 117 (2009)
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Although political debates surrounding the merits of vouchers and other education funding programs have intensified over the last decade, the underlying issue of school choice has been one of the cruxes of education reform since the nineteenth century when public education began expanding throughout the United States. While voucher programs have recently gained constitutional favor at the federal level, another more significant legal battleground resides at the state level, where constitutional provisions restricting government aid to religious schools (called “Blaine Amendments”) continue to present formidable legal obstacles. This Note contends that education tax credit programs, in contrast to school vouchers, are a viable option for school-choice advocates hoping to push their initiatives past Blaine Amendment scrutiny. Additionally, this Note proposes that a voluntary association among states would effectively consolidate and legitimize these initiatives.
