Three months have passed since Finance Minister Jim Flaherty unveiled his tax credit plan for parents who send their children to private schools, as part of his May budget. But the debate about this measure continues. Buried on page 24 of the 27-page Budget 2001 speech was this little gem:

"Over the next five years, we propose to phase in a partial tax credit for parents of children at independent schools. With this measure, Ontario would join other provinces in supporting educational choice."

While the government received some editorial support, the outrage and opposition to this proposal was loud and widespread, although it came from predictable sources: teachers unions, public education advocates, and class warfare careerists.

The tax credit will be phased in over the next five years and when fully implemented, parents will be allowed to deduct up to 50% of tuition paid to an independent school to a maximum of $3,500.

As a general rule, the CTF does not favour tax credits as a means to provide relief to taxpayers. The multitude of tax credits already in effect and annual additions to this tally only serve to further complicate the tax system. It would be far better to simplify the structure, lower rates across the board, broaden the base and arrive at a situation with a few credits like a generous basic exemption, a disability credit and maybe one or two others. But in the short run, this credit is hopefully the first step in a series of measures to reach the important destination of full school choice for parents and students.

As mentioned earlier, opposition to this credit was and still is fierce. The rhetoric has reached a fever pitch. So with this in mind, let's review some of the arguments against the independent school tax credit.

This will destroy public education.
Ah, no. To start, the Ontario budget dropped another $360 million into public education this year alone. Not to mention the fact that total funding to Ontario's public, catholic and French language schools has gone from $12.9 billion in 1995/1996 to a projected $13.8 billion for 2001/2002.

Given that 70% to 80% of public education costs are tied up in salaries, addressing the cost structure throughout the public education system is necessary to re-allocate existing dollars and better direct new government dollars directly to supplies and other materials, as well as direct instruction, for students.

Again, another sop to the rich since they're the only ones who can afford private schools.
Sorry Charlie, wrong again. Recent Statistics Canada data shows that only 37% of children in private or independent schools come from households with average incomes over $100,000. So 63% of the kids in private schools across Canada (and presumably across Ontario) come from households where combined income is less than $100,000. And 29% of children attending private schools come from homes where income is less than $50,000.

This is an unprecedented attack on public education.
No, five other provinces including Quebec and B.C. also provide some form of private school support.

This could be the beginning of a wider voucher system.
On this, the government's opponents may have a point, and we hope they're bang on. Then all Ontario students and parents will have the freedom to choose where to send their kids to school instead of the 100,000 or so now that are privileged to choose from some 722 private or independent schools.