Education tax credits

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The current debate surrounding sex education in Montgomery County reminds us again of the need for greater educational freedom. Tenth-grade students putting condoms on cucumbers joins a growing list of concerns that parents have over the quality of education their kids are receiving in public schools.

This is precisely why my campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates will focus primarily on educational freedom.

To be perfectly honest, I don't believe that the government ought to be in the education business in the first place. I find the cookie-cutter, compulsory-schooling regime to be totally anathema to the process of real learning, and most importantly, to the unique development of every individual human mind. In my opinion, children require particularized instruction. That's why my wife and I decided to homeschool our kids.

That said, I understand that many people will not agree with me. They feel that public schools are a necessary and vital tool for providing education to the young. I would disagree with such people. However, I also respect the fact that, right or wrong, they genuinely want all children to have a shot at a good education.

It is in the spirit of compromise, then, that I make my proposal: that those who choose to support the public-school system leave their children in their local school and continue paying for it with their property taxes.

But the rest of us also deserve a choice in how our children are educated. Yes, we have the right to send our kids to a private school or teach them at home, but we're unnecessarily handicapped in exercising our choice: Current tax policies require us to "pay twice," making it extremely difficult to afford.

What I am asking is that those of us who choose differently from the majority have our views granted equal consideration before the law. Those who believe in public education should pay for it; those of us who don't should be granted as much respect.

In the House of Delegates, I will work with other reform-minded legislators to liberate those who feel trapped in a failed system. What we need is a law that allows taxpayers who do not send their children to a public school to receive a property-tax refund (for an amount no larger that the percentage of their property tax that currently goes to their local public school) or an equivalent tax credit on their state income taxes.

This should not be confused with a "school voucher" program. That system would allow taxpayer funds to be spent on religious institutions, violating the intent of the First Amendment. A voucher program essentially subsidizes parent's educational choices; my proposal is not a subsidy.

As I see it, taxpayers would be refunded only their own money that is currently being used to provide a seat for their child in the local public school.