Bush budget includes nearly $4 billion for religious school aid. (People & Events).

President George W. Bush's recently released 2003 budget includes nearly $4 billion to pay for a "tax credit" for tuition at religious and other private schools.

Congress rejected a Bush voucher proposal last year, and now opponents of the measure say the president is trying to do an end run around the House of Representatives and Senate by inserting the tax-credit plan directly into the budget.

Under the Bush scheme, parents with children in public schools deemed "failing" would receive a tax credit of up to $2,500. The credit would also be available to cover the costs of home schooling or transfers to other public schools.

Americans United was quick to denounce the proposal.

"This tax credit is actually a backdoor voucher scheme," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "It takes money from the public treasury to finance religious and other private schools. Congress should quickly reject this misguided gambit. At a time when lawmakers are struggling to maintain a balanced budget, a costly multi-billion subsidy for religious schooling is an incredibly bad idea. On this test, I'd give Bush an `F.'"

Another controversial education feature of the White House budget is a "Choice Demonstration Fund." Media reports indicate the fund will use $50 million to support local education "experiments," including aid for religious and other private schools.

The president's education measures are being unveiled about a year after Bush initially proposed a multi-billion-dollar voucher scheme. Vouchers were dropped in negotiations with congressional Democrats, and the compromise education package drew criticism from Religious Right groups.

To respond to these concerns, the administration has now proposed the tax credit plan. AU's Lynn believes Bush's proposal is a political payback.

"This tax credit plan appears to be a payoff to Religious Right pressure groups," Lynn said. "If the president truly wanted to ensure that no children get left behind, he'd abandon this useless plan. It diverts resources away from real public school reform."

In December, top White House political strategist Karl Rove expressed concern that evangelical Christian voters turned out in smaller-than-expected numbers in 2000 to cast ballots for Bush. He suggested that the administration may have to do more to earn this voting bloc's support.

Religious Right and conservative Catholic parochial school groups were angry that the education bill Bush signed in January did not contain vouchers. The National Catholic Educational Association called the bill "modest at best and a disappointment to Catholic educators."

Radio counselor James Dobson's Focus on the Family also issued a statement criticizing the bill and insisting that vouchers should have been included.

Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, have been meeting to find ways to win passage for the tax credit proposal. One of the ideas they are discussing is giving tax credits to people who donate to private organizations that provide vouchers for students. Such laws already exist in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

According to The Washington Times, House Education Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio) has chosen Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.) to draft a proposal that could win passage in Congress.