A 3-PART INVESTIGATIVE REPORT Copyright 2009, East Valley Tribune
Day 1: Aug. 1, 2009
THE FIX : The tuition tax credits law was supposed to revolutionize school choice for disadvantaged children. Instead it fostered a rigged system that keeps private education a privilege for the already privileged. MORE
NO OVERSIGHT: The state has no way of ensuring that $55 million a year in tax credits really goes toward scholarships for private school students as the law intended. MORE
Day 2: Aug. 4, 2009
HOW-TO GUIDE: Many private schools teach parents how to skirt the law by lining up donors for their children. MORE
PLOT TWIST : The tale of Maricopa County Schoolhouse Foundation begins with criminal indictments and fraud, but ends as an example of tuition tax credits’ promise for serving the underprivileged. MORE
Day 3: Aug. 6, 2009
PERKS: Executives at two of Arizona’s largest scholarship charities are using income tax donations to enrich themselves. MORE
ALTERED VISION: Twelve years ago, Trent Franks envisioned a statewide system to enable poor kids to go to private schools. Most of the charities that formed as a result went in a different direction.
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The Players
A look at key figures in the history of Arizona's school tuition organizations. MORE
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