DEDUCTIONS SOUGHT FOR PRIVATE-SCHOOL TUITION

It's certainly not a new debate: tax credits for parents whose children attend private school. But it is a debate worth revisiting.

If the Cape Girardeau area is any indication, private schools are growing by leaps and bounds. And this growth is occurring in a region with good public schools. Consider the growing emphasis that parents in urban areas place on private schools.

The aim is to find some tax relief for parents who are paying a double whammy: They pay both for private school tuition and public school taxes.

A proposal before Missouri's Senate would let parents deduct costs of private school tuition, school supplies and transportation from their state income taxes for children in grades nine through 12. That deduction would be capped at $2,500 a student.

This is not a huge amount of money -- an estimated $7 million statewide. That's a drop in the bucket for a state budget that approaches $17 billion. The state budget proposed for the fiscal year beginning July 1 includes $2 billion for basic school aid, a 10 percent increase in educational funding.

Under the tax-deduction plan, parents of private-school students wouldn't get a break on their school taxes. As such, it wouldn't hurt public school funding.

Instead, they would get a break on the state taxes they pay. Consider the fact that Missouri in the past few years has cut taxes and returned more than $1.6 billion, thanks to the Hancock Amendment.

Private schools decrease the burden on public education. If all the private schools closed tomorrow, could Missouri's public schools handle the financial burden? Hardly. Each year, public education serves fewer children with more dollars.

Private schools also offer a kind of competition for public schools. Granted, the competition would be more so with vouchers. But even at this level, public schools know they must continue to improve to keep the enrollments they have. Larger enrollments mean more dollars under the school foundation formula.

This bill offers a good compromise to helping private school parents without costing very much. Tax deductions wouldn't violate the separation of church-and-state-clause, as opposed to direct state payments. And don't forget, not all private schools are church-affiliated.

It's time for Missouri to get practical. Private schools aren't going away. Helping parents to afford both public education support and private schooling may be a selling point to attract new Missourians.