Every once in a while, one really gets what one pays for. And then some. Seriously.

There I was with my Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago, and I was drawn to a column about “choice in education” initiative recently defeated in Utah. While rightly lamenting its demise, writer Adam Schaeffer of the CATO Institute in Washington pointed out that there is another effective and saleable way to go about advancing the cause of choice in education. Tax credits. Personal use tax credits for families means one receives a dollar for dollar reduction in one’s state taxes (as opposed to just a tax deduction) for some portion of private K-12 education expenses.

Donation tax credits allow businesses to fund scholarship accounts in low-income areas.

Before my eyes glazed over I noticed that once of those states is Illinois. Who knew? I didn’t.

Sure enough, I called my accountant who prepared my taxes and thanks to that subscription to my Wall Street Journal I’m re-filing my state taxes and getting $500 back.

It turns out I’d ignored the portion of my accountant’s questions which asked if I paid private school tuition. What good could that do me, right?

Well, a lot. The refund is, unfortunately, not as big a portion of my son’s private school bill as it should be – but I’ll take it and be glad for it. Other states allow more: Pennsylvania allows a 90% tax credit, and Florida a full 100%. Especially in these states, families have a huge choice in how they educate their kids. (Typically the tax credits give relief to homeschooling parents too.)

The bottom line? If Illinois, one of the bluest of the blue states, will pass a tax credit allowing up to a $500 a year tax refund for private education (regardless of income) this is by definition a politically workable approach. Interestingly, the tax credit approach is expanding in several states, and according to Schaeffer, often at the hands of center-left coalitions. Why? Because such credits allow families a decent education without the political “baggage” of vouchers or the worry that vouchers will “destroy” the public school system. And many homeschoolers and libertarians like them because they don’t have to worry about the government mandates which might come with vouchers.

Schaeffer points out that “donation tax credits” for businesses create their own “choice in education” dynamic. He writes “in Pennsylvania, for instance, the 183 scholarship organizations [in that state] have become a permanent institutional base for supporters and beneficiaries, and a serious political force.”

The electorate tends to find such programs to be just another form of charitable giving.

This doesn’t mean that right thinking people should give up on education vouchers. But the reality is that they are a politically difficult thing to sell to suburban moms like me who (also) have kids in the local pubic school a few blocks away and think the school is good.

I support vouchers but I’d bet my neighbors are a different story. All the “education” on the issue in the world isn’t going to change the fact that parents in suburban public school systems pretty much like what they have.

At some point those of us who advocate vouchers have to ask ourselves: are we so wedded to the “idea” of vouchers that we’ll overlook other ideas that actually work?

It’s time to start focusing on tax credits for K-12 education.

Talk about my Wall Street Journal subscription paying for itself!

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Betsy Hart, a nationally syndicated columnist, also writes a column exclusively for The Chicago Daily Observer where she serves on its editorial board.

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