Costs
factor in parents' school choice
Sunday, September 26, 2004 • By JOHN A.
ZUKOWSKI • The Express-Times
The first time Beth Slusser thought about sending her
children to private school?
It was when one of them was about to enter
kindergarten.
She soon found out there were only part-time
kindergarten programs at public schools near her Bloomsbury
home.
"Being parents who worked full-time, that wasn't an
option," she said.
So she looked into Saints Philip and James Catholic
School in Phillipsburg.
That school had a full-day kindergarten program.
Slusser likes the religious aspect to the school's
curriculum. But that wasn't her main reason for sending her
children to school there.
"We sent them there because the school is very
supportive of the children and they set a tone a public
school can't do," she said. "There's discipline there and
there are rules they have to follow."
So she's made sacrifices to afford to send her children
there.
"For my husband and myself, our children's education
comes first, so we give up personal things in order to
provide for them," she said.
That means some financial challenges to do it.
Parents often talk to Robert Tomlinson about money
too.
He hears parents say they'd like to send their children
to a religious school.
They like the idea of more spirituality, smaller classes
and a safe environment.
The problem isn't a lack of interest in private schools
such as the Faith Christian School in Roseto where Tomlinson
is administrator, he says.
It's something else.
Money.
"If I put on my billboard the school was tuition-free
there wouldn't be enough seats for everyone that would come
in," Tomlinson says. "We do all we can to make our tuition
affordable and maintain a quality school and we give what
help we can to parents. But the issue for many people is the
money."
Both Slusser and Tomlinson support the idea of vouchers
to help parents pay for private schools.
But no state -- including Pennsylvania and New Jersey --
has passed a statewide vouchers program.
State-funded vouchers are currently active in just three
U.S. cities: Milwaukee, Cleveland and Pensacola, Fla., (a
voucher program in Washington, D.C., will begin in the
2004-05 school year).
This frustrates some voucher supporters who believe
private schools save taxpayers money.
Calculating just how much money Catholic schools save
taxpayers is highly controversial.
Some organizations say they save taxpayers tens of
billions of dollars. Some critics say the figure is less
because the estimates do not properly factor in fixed costs
at public schools.
But whatever the savings, one questions remains with all
the talk about the high cost of public education to
taxpayers.
What's being done to help parents send their children to
private schools?
There isn't the vast financial aid system there is for
college. But financial aid and tax breaks are available that
some parents may not know about.
Pennsylvania is one of only two states in the country --
Arizona is the other -- that has a major tax break for
businesses that give money to private schools.
The Educational Improvement Tax Credit allows tax
credits to businesses that contribute to scholarship
organizations or educational improvement organizations in
public or private schools.
Pennsylvania's tax credit is for 75 percent of a
corporation's contribution of up to $200,000, or 90 percent
of its contribution if the corporation contributes for more
than one year. Some local private schools say the tax break
program has made a real difference.
"It's been very helpful, it's given us additional
resources, and we're really delighted it's in place," says
Moravian Academy Financial Aid Director Ann Mindler.
Private schools also usually have other funds for
financial assistance.
"I always encourage parents to call the school and talk
about it," Mindler says. "We're always happy to speak with
families about whether we might be able to do anything for
them."
But how many students are benefiting from these
programs?
Officials at several local private schools in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey contacted for this report say
about 15 percent of students in their schools receive
financial assistance.
And that money is almost always based on need, not
academics.
The two Catholic dioceses in The Express-Times coverage
area say they both awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars
in financial assistance.
The Metuchen Diocese had 1,000 applicants apply for
financial aid and 745 students received aid. For this school
year the diocese awarded more than $550,000.
The Allentown Diocese awarded $885,000 in tuition last
year through the Eastern Pennsylvania Scholarship Foundation
which provides partial scholarships. The diocese also
awarded an additional $67,000 through foundations.
Allentown Diocese officials say individual schools in
the diocese have tuition assistance programs.
"We encourage parents to meet with administrators at
local schools to learn what the local school policies are
for applying for tuition assistance," says Allentown
Catholic Diocese Secretary of Education Phil Fromuth. "And
generally the earlier they do it the better."
But that admittedly doesn't help all parents.
And local private school officials debate how to make
more money available for their schools.
For some the answer lies with tax breaks.
"I think what would be the greatest help to parents
would be to provide them with a tax credit on their state or
federal income tax forms," says Doug Batchelder of
Phillipsburg Christian Academy in Phillipsburg. "It would
require the least amount of government bureaucracy to
implement and you wouldn't be adding another layer of
government."
For others, the answer is vouchers.
"I would be 100 percent for vouchers if they are to be
used by parents for wherever they want to send their
children to school," Tomlinson says. "I'm not for a system
where it goes to a school rather than a parent. Because then
it'll be the government who will determine what schools the
money goes to."
But without vouchers, many local private school
officials say they often tell parents to consider doing what
parents such as Slusser are doing: sacrificing.
"It can be a real sacrifice for families, but when they
see the benefits they often see it's worth the sacrifice,"
says Metuchen Diocese Assistant Director of Development
Claire Giangreco. "I get a real sense that families are
often willing to do whatever it takes."
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