1997 – Act 22 of 1997 was established. This bi-partisan law provided for non-sectarian, state-funded charter schools. By the end of the year, Pennsylvania had 6 charter schools enrolling 1,028 students.
2001 – Pennsylvania was the first state to establish the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC). This tax credit allowed businesses to count 75% of their donations to Scholarship-Granting Organizations (SGOs) or Educational Improvement Organizations (EIOs) towards their end-of-year tax bill. In 2001 there were $30 million available in tax credits on a first come first serve basis, and no business could credit more than $100,000 to its tax bill.
2003 – The size of the EITC tax credit was increased from $30 million to $40 million.
2004 – The EITC was expanded to provide an additional $5 million in tax credits for Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship Organizations (PSKOs), to a total size of $45 million. The tax credit limit for individual businesses was increased from $100,000 to $200,000.
2005 – The total size of the EITC was increased to $59 million (including the tax credit for PSKOs).
2007 – The total size of the EITC was increased to $75 million.
2008 – The EITC limit for individual businesses was increased to $300,000.
2009 – Due to budgetary constraints, the EITC was reduced to $60 million, with plans to reduce it to $50 million in 2010.
2010 – The EITC was maintained at $60 million.
2011 – Pennsylvania has 159 charter schools serving over 90,000 students.
– U.S. Supreme Court in Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn ruled that tax credits benefitting religious institutions do not violate the First Amendment.
–The Educational Investment Tax Credit (EITC) provides $75 million in tax credits; $44.7 million for SGOs, $22.3 million for EIOs, and $8 million for PSKOs.
– Pennsylvania Senate passes SB1 (to create vouchers, expand charters, and expand the EITC) on October 26 and the bill is referred to the House Education Committee.
