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From: riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Private school tax deduction vs NEA
Message-ID: <388@ut-sally.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Nov-83 20:04:09 EST
Article-I.D.: ut-sally.388
Posted: Mon Nov 14 20:04:09 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 15-Nov-83 23:58:51 EST
References: <433@ihuxb.UUCP>
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 23

I don't know why the NEA opposes tax breaks for parents who send their
children to private schools, but it may be because of concern that such
breaks would further encourage the phenomenon known as "white flight"
and further erode the tax bases of many of the nation's poorer school
districts.  In many larger cities, there is already a painful discrepancy
between the richer, whiter suburban school districts and the poorer, blacker
inner-city districts.  This has harmful effects both in terms of finances
and in terms of the social goal of racial balance.  If the tax system allowed
whites and the wealthy (obviously not the same group, but you have to admit
that there's a lot of overlap there) to escape inner-city school districts
without actually having to move to the suburbs, these problems would increase
dramatically.

Another concern about tuition tax breaks is constitutional: the overwhelming
majority of the schools which would benefit under such a policy are parochial
schools.  Is it a violation of the first amendment to divert tax revenues to
religious purposes?  To what extent do parochial schools serve "religious
purposes"?  These questions are subject to debate.
----
Prentiss Riddle
{ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle
riddle@ut-sally.UUCP