Catholic leaders calling on state lawmakers to help private schools

PHOENIX – Arizona has about 21,000 Catholic school students and members of the church are calling for the legislature to pay attention to the needs of private schools.

Unlike some states in the country that are seeing private Catholic schools close, Donna Marino, president and CEO of Catholic Education Arizona, said Arizona is seeing a growing demand.

“Because of the moral and the spiritual and the ethical base of our faith, and our church and what we teach, many parents are attracted to that rigor,” Marino said.

But as more people seek Catholic or other types of private school educations, Marino said the funds to help those in need becomes scare.

That’s why thousands of students and church leaders gathered at the Arizona State Capital lawn on Wednesday to urge the state legislature to broaden the types of companies that can receive tax credits by donating to private school funds.

Marino said corporate donations are a vital source of funding for scholarships and grants that can help low-income or needy students afford a private school education.

“The legislature is considering opening it up and expanding that to S Corps and LLCs, which will absolutely increase the pool of money available,” Marino said.

Besides broadening the types of companies that can receive tax credits for donating to private school funds, Marino said they’d also like state legislators to increase the cap on those funds.

The current cap is roughly $43 million and, despite a 20 percent annual increase, Marino said she would like to see the cap grow more proportionally with the needs of low-income students to help them have the ability to afford private educations.