Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) Thursday introduced House Bill 250 to increase the amount of tax credits available under the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program by $50 million (to a total of $175 million) and the amount of tax credits available under the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) program by $25 million (to $75 million).
The two programs open access to good private schools by allowing businesses to claim a tax credit for donations to scholarship funds for low- and middle-income children.
More than 40,000 students benefit from the EITC and OSTC programs each year through educational scholarship organizations, which provide scholarships for students to attend non-public schools.
Additionally, the program assists countless Pennsylvania students in traditional public schools through the Educational Improvement Organizations portion of the tax credits made available each year, which support innovative educational programs that enhance the regular school curriculum.
“Families who want better school choice opportunities but cannot afford them have found the educational improvement and opportunity scholarships to be positively life-changing,” Speaker Turzai said. “Parochial schools and other private schools have played a responsible role in helping to educate our children along with our public schools. These tax credit scholarships supplement the billions of dollars we spend on public education in providing opportunities for our youngest citizens.”
