Keegan’s selective reading

by David Safier

It almost looks like Lisa Graham Keegan and I agree. Almost. She has an op ed in the Republic praising the paper for its discussions of the problems with tuition tax credits.

I am extremely grateful to editorial writer Doug MacEachern and The Arizona Republic for clearly defining in 2009 the intended outlines of a law I helped to pass in 1997. The state Legislature should adopt their suggestions as quickly as possible.

Keegan, by the way, had her hand in the creation of charter schools and tuition tax credits, was in the AZ legislature, served as state Ed Supe and was McCain's education advisor for his presidential campaign. She's now part of the private Charter Schools Association, among other things. Her conservative credentials usually put us at opposite ends of the opinion spectrum.

Here, our apparent agreement is more limited than she implies in her op ed. I like most of the suggestions in the Republic. Her seemingly full throated endorsement is actually a very limited agreement. She only wants a financial means test to be put on tuition tax credit scholarships, just one part of the entire package laid out in the Republic.

Means testing is just 1 of the 7 reforms listed by Doug MaEachern. He wants to get rid of all "recommendations" attached to tax credit dollars, and he suggests a series of regulations and restrictions that would make STOs spend less on overhead, be more financially accountable and give out the scholarship money in a timely fashion. And he wants the scholarship kids tested to see if they're doing better in private schools than their peers in public schools. (I would love to hear Keegan's reaction to the testing idea.)

How does Keegan feel about those other recommendations? She doesn't say. You gotta give her credit for political smarts. By appearing to praise the entire package, then making it seem like it all comes down to one suggestion, she makes it sound like the Republic is entirely in her corner.

No dummy, Ms. Keegan.