Dan Post Columnist

Last month, the Tucson Citizen reported discouraging news concerning the Arizona Tax Credit Program, under which taxpayers can direct up to 250 of their state tax dollars directly to a school of their choice. The report found that despite the program's goal of benefiting all schools, donations are disproportionately going to the affluent districts. Of the $3.6 million in taxpayer donations to school districts in Pima County, only one-fifth goes to the poorest schools. In fact, the 74 poorest schools combined receive almost the same amount as Catalina Foothills High School alone.

It's easy to see why this happens.

On the front page of the Tucson Unified School District Web site, ads solicit donations under the program. The No.1 incentive listed is: It costs you nothing. But this is only true in certain circumstances, depending upon who "you" are. The Arizona Tax Credit Program "costs nothing" because taxpayers who are already paying at least $250 in state income tax can deduct the full amount from their tax bills. Individuals who pay no state income tax (read: the poor, who need more education funding the most) have no incentive to donate to this program. For them, it is not free to donate. While the intentions of this program may be noble, it is clear that the tax credit ends up increasing school funding in wealthy communities only.

This all falls under the guise of the conservative doctrine on taxes and government programs: People should be able to do what they want with their money; it's taxpayer money, not the government's. The Arizona School Tax Program allows citizens to choose where their money goes, with the hope that people will more wisely allocate their tax dollars than the government.

But all it really does is cause it to be allocated unfairly. The inequality works twofold. For every dollar that a taxpayer donates under the program, that is one less dollar into the state coffers. The state would have spent this money equally on all of its students, but with the donations going so overwhelming to the richest schools, those schools are getting a huge advantage. So the program ends up merely transferring money from all taxpayers to the rich communities.

What's worse is that the poor already start out with a disadvantage in terms of school funding. A great deal of funding comes from property taxes. Since the rich communities pay higher property taxes, their schools receive more funding. A small number of residents paying low taxes on their highly valuable property in the Foothills can pay for state-of-the-art facilities and technology, while the poor with lower property values can't. With the school tax credit program, this inequality is being furthered.

But you won't hear the parents at Catalina Foothills complaining about the program. Over the past few years, various media outlets and politicians have suggested paring down or eliminating the tax credit. The state is already running a large budget deficit, anyway, and this program is working more or less as an entitlement to schools in rich communities. But because the program reduces taxes, it has a significant amount of support. Opponents would call eliminating the program tantamount to raising taxes. Not to mention that the rich are far more likely to vote.

Many states' courts have ruled the property tax system of funding for public education illegal and unconstitutional on the ground that it violates the edict that public education should be equal for all. While we don't know how Arizona courts would rule on the issue, we shouldn't wait for it to come to that point anyway. The program should be eliminated, or if not eliminated, it should be modified in a way that doesn't cause this equality problem. What if the donation limits and procedures were the same, but the donations went to the county instead of a specific school? That way, the program could do what it was supposed to have been doing all along.

Considering the range of benefits of a good education, we want better schools for all children, regardless of income. That is why the Arizona School Tax Credit Program needs to be changed.

Dan Post is an anthropology and ecology senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.