Tuition tax credits debated in Springfield

If a proposal to authorize tax credits for schooling makes it through the General Assembly this year, the victory celebration may be short-lived. The American Civil Liberties Union has already promised a court challenge.

The House approved a measure allowing a tuition credit on state income taxes of up to $500 a year for the cost of elementary and secondary education, a move that could cost the state about $100 million per year. The legislature approved the same proposal last year, but then-Gov. Jim Edgar vetoed it. Now, with the support of Gov. George Ryan, the idea has a stronger chance of becoming law.

But ACLU Legislative Director Mary Dixon says her group would challenge the measure as a violation of constitutional strictures on separation of church and state.

Critics argue the proposal would provide public dollars for private, religious-based schools. Supporters, including the Catholic Conference of Illinois, say the measure would sustain a court challenge because it could be used to defray the expenses of public or private schooling. Nevertheless, Tom Hernandez, a State Board of Education spokesman, says it's unlikely parents of public school students would spend the minimum amount necessary for taking a tax credit. The credit wouldn't kick in until parents spent more than $250. They would have to spend $2,250 to get the maximum credit.

Margaret Schroeder

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Legislative Checklist

MANAGED CARE
Measures to address concerns about the regulation of Health Maintenance Organizations began moving through both chambers again this spring. Democratic Rep. Mary Flowers of Chicago got a plug from Gov. George Ryan in his budget address and managed to pick up 60-some sponsors for her proposal. Flowers would make HMOs liable for malpractice claims.

And that's been a point of contention between the parties. Senate Republican Thomas Walsh of LaGrange Park is sponsoring a measure similar to Flowers', but without the liability provision.

TOBACCO
Attorney General Jim Ryan saw progress on his suggestion for spending Illinois' potential $9 billion share in the states' settlement with the major tobacco companies. Ryan would require half of those dollars to be spent on health initiative. Sen. Steven Rauschenberger; an Elgin Republican, moved the measure through committee.

Burney Simpson

Who pays the price of charter schools?
When proponents of a new charter school in Elk Grove Village were turned away by the local school board, they were able to go directly to the State Board of Education to get approval for their plan. But the quandary over how the district will foot the bill for the $1.3 million project has sparked an effort to require the state to pay for charter school.

A 1996 law authorizes 45 charter schools, to be spread throughout the state (see Illinois Issues, June 1997, page 32). The idea was to free such schools from many state mandates faced by other public school. They could, for example, specialize in the sciences or the arts.

So far; only 21 charter schools have been approved, with 13 in operation. Ten are in Chicago. The others are in Cahokia, Peoria and Springfield. The slow start is largely blamed on what State Superintendent of Education Glenn W "Max" McGee calls an "adversarial relationship" built into a law that requires the local district to fund any charter school it approve.

The state board is considering a proposal to provide "transitional funding" for the start-up costs of the new school. Such costs can vary widely A charter school planned for suburban Grayslake may cost as much as $1.5 million the first year.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Carolyn Krause, a Mount Prospect Republican, is pushing a separate proposal to require the state to completely fund charter schools if they are approved over the objections of the local school board. The Elk Grove Village school system is in Krause's district.

Margaret Schroeder