[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 22 (Thursday, February 6, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT TAX CUT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 5, 2003

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Education Improvement 
Tax Cut Act. This act, a companion to my Family Education Freedom Act, 
takes a further step toward returning control over education resources 
to private citizens by providing a $3,000 tax credit for donations to 
scholarship funds to enable low-income children to attend private 
schools. It also encourages private citizens to devote more of their 
resources to helping public schools, by providing a $3,000 tax credit 
for cash or in-kind donations to public schools to support academic or 
extra curricular programs.
  I need not remind my colleagues that education is one of the top 
priorities of the American people. After all, many members of Congress 
have proposed education reforms and a great deal of time is spent 
debating these proposals. However, most of these proposals either 
expand federal control over education or engage in the pseudo-
federalism of block grants. Many proposals that claim to increase local 
control over education actually extend federal power by holding schools 
``accountable'' to federal bureaucrats and politicians. Of course, 
schools should be held accountable for their results, but they should 
be held accountable to parents and school boards not to federal 
officials. Therefore, I propose we move in a different direction and 
embrace true federalism by returning control over the education dollar 
to the American people.
  One of the major problems with centralized control over education 
funding is that spending priorities set by Washington-based 
Representatives, staffers, and bureaucrats do not necessarily match the 
needs of individual communities. In fact, it would be a miracle if 
spending priorities determined by the wishes of certain politically 
powerful representatives or the theories of Education Department 
functionaries match the priorities of every community in a country as 
large and diverse as America. Block grants do not solve this problem as 
they simply allow states and localities to choose the means to reach 
federally-determined ends.
  Returning control over the education dollar for tax credits for 
parents and for other concerned citizens returns control over both the 
means and ends of education policy to local communities. People in one 
community may use this credit to purchase computers, while children in 
another community may, at last, have access to a quality music program 
because of community leaders who took advantage of the tax credit 
contained in this bill.
  Children in some communities may benefit most from the opportunity to 
attend private, parochial, or other religious schools. One of the most 
encouraging trends in education has been the establishment of private 
scholarship programs. These scholarship funds use voluntary 
contributions to open the doors of quality private schools to low-
income children. By providing a tax credit for donations to these 
programs, Congress can widen the educational opportunities and increase 
the quality of education for all children. Furthermore, privately-
funded scholarships raise none of the concerns of state entanglement 
raised by publicly-funded vouchers.
  There is no doubt that Americans will always spend generously on 
education, the question is, ``who should control the education dollar--
politicians and bureaucrats or the American people?'' Mr. Speaker, I 
urge my colleagues to join me in placing control of education back in 
the hands of citizens and local communities by sponsoring the Education 
Improvement Tax Cut Act.

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