Pennsylvania tax credits offer students opportunity scholarships
Pennsylvaniarecently released a list of the lowest rated public schools in the state. Based on thislist, eligible students across the state may now have the opportunity to attenda higher-achieving public or nonpublic school pursuant to Pennsylvania’sOpportunity Scholarship Tax Program. Eligible students are those enrolled inthe lowest performing schools, or those living within the attendance boundaryof a low-achieving school, and students belonging to families with incomes nomore than $75,000 plus $12,000 for every dependant household member.
Pennsylvania lawrequires the Pennsylvania Department of Education to notify school districts oftheir low-achieving status by February 1. After the schools have been notified, the parents of the childrenattending those schools must also be notified of the school’s low-achieving status andmust additionally be provided with information on how to apply for theopportunity scholarships.
Over $50 millionin tax credits across Pennsylvania have enabled the OpportunityScholarship Tax Program to fund scholarships capped at $8,500 for astudent without a disability, and $15,000 for a student with a disability.However, because funding for the scholarships is contingent on businessesmaking contributions in exchange for tax credits, the available amount oflocal scholarship money is uncertain.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/school_services_office/9153/p/1202312
dab