Lawsuit: Private school scholarships serve no public good and violate constitution
In 2008, Legislators enacted a scholarship tax credit program --- that has since come under fire for blatant abuses --- that subsidizes private-school tuition. Thus far, the program has diverted $300 million from the state treasury.
The law allows corporate and individual taxpayers to give a portion of their taxes --- up to $1,000 for individuals, $2,500 for married couples and up to 75 percent of a corporation's total tax liability --- to a student scholarship rather than to the state treasury. The taxpayer then claims a tax credit equal to the donation, and the private school awards the money to a deserving public school student.
But the definition of “deserving” has been stretched. There have been charges that private school parents were making donations to schools that were then repackaged as "scholarships" for their own kids.
It’s not a surprise the scholarships have been abused. In a 2012 YouTube video that was taken down once the press reported on it, state Rep. David Casas, R-Lilburn, a sponsor of the bill, was seen assuring middle-class parents at a local Christian school that the law is a "win-win" for them, that it permits them to "take this chunk of money and be able to say, 'I want this to go to the