School Choice Opponents Hold Another DeVos Protest

Peter Ricketson is a Grand Rapids area union activist and the parent of a child who attends public schools. He was part of a group that protested outside a speech given by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in Grand Rapids earlier this week.

Ricketson was quoted in an MLive news story about public schools.

“Our goal is to protect the public schools,” Ricketson said. “People that go to private schools can afford private schools. Middle-class students unfortunately cannot.”

Attempts to reach Ricketson through Facebook and his employer were not successful.

ForTheRecord says: If only there were some type of program that allowed middle-class students to afford private schools. Oh, wait a minute. ...

Lawmakers in 18 states have adopted some form of tuition tax credit program that lets individuals or businesses claim a tax credit for donations that help students attend a private school. Many of the programs are limited to children from low-income families. A tuition tax credit differs from a voucher. A voucher is a certificate from the government that can be redeemed for a certain amount of money.

A universal tuition tax credit would allow parents to send their children to a private school or a public school, including ones outside their home school district, without being penalized. Parents who manage to send their children to nonpublic schools say have to pay twice, in tuition and public school taxes.