Ariz. bishops focusing on education in wake of recent tuition tax law

By Rebecca Saunders
The Catholic Sun

Arizona’s Catholic bishops issued a pastoral statement on education this month focusing on issues facing the state and affirming the recent passage of the corporate tuition tax credit bill.

Gov. Janet Napolitano allowed the corporate tuition tax credit bill — legislation that permits corporate donations of up to $5 million to private school scholarships for low-income students that meet certain qualifications — to become a law without her signature last month.

“I am pleased with the passage of the corporate tuition tax credit bill to give more children the opportunity to attend our Catholic schools,” said MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent of diocesan Catholic schools. “It truly gives parents the choice in determining their child’s education.”

The law, which will expire in five years unless it is amended or renewed, allows the 54 school tuition organizations in Arizona to request donations from corporations, which in turn provides a tax credit.

“We actually think that the cost to the state is probably going to be revenue neutral,” said Ron Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference, about the new law.

“It’s really going to help low-income kids attend the school that would be the best fit for them,” Johnson added.
“This is to target the low-income student,” said Karen Shepherd, director of the Catholic Tuition Organization for the Diocese of Phoenix. “To give their family a choice in education if the public school isn’t working for them — or the type of education they want that’s not available to them if they can’t afford it.”

Pastoral statement

Parent choice is at the heart of the bill according to Johnson and Shepherd. The bill shares that value with the Arizona bishops, who emphasized parents as the primary educator of their children in their most recent pastoral statement, titled “Arizona’s Future Depends on the Education of Our Children.”

“Parental involvement with their children’s education is a fundamental matter of critical importance that is too often undervalued by some in society,” the pastoral statement reads. “Because of this importance, it is the proper role of government to respect the autonomy of parents and not unduly interfere with their unique responsibility.”

The bishops of the Arizona Catholic Conference — which include Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas and Bishop Donald E. Pelotte of the Diocese of Gallup, N.M., whose diocesan boundaries cross over into Arizona — also address illiteracy and English Language Learners.

The bishops add their concern for “Arizona’s high drop-out rate, especially among Hispanic students, 50 percent of whom do not graduate from high school.”

The value of public school is also emphasized by the bishops, who express concern for the educational standards of all students, especially the estimated 200,000 Catholic students that attend public schools in Arizona.

“It’s connected to a lot of things,” Johnson said of the pastoral statement. “The bishops were trying to again focus on the children and students -- they’re a valuable resource for Arizona and our future.”

Development initiative

While the corporate tax credit legislation was one of the issues that prompted the statement, the bishops look deeper into educational issues. They went as far as endorsing the First Things First early childhood development initiative that will appear on the ballot this November.

First Things First focuses on ensuring “that quality health care and educational programs are implemented to provide vulnerable children with the proper foundation and skills they will need before entering school,” according to the statement.

The pastoral statement makes it clear that much work remains beyond the corporate tuition tax credit law in Arizona’s educational system, but the bishops are hopeful.

“Our children are the most valuable natural resource we have and must always be cherished,” the statement reads. “It is our fervent hope that the public policy decisions made in our state are also reflective or this fact so that Arizona will fulfill its unlimited potential.”