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Senate GOP Approves Private School Tax Credit Measure

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Republicans in the Minnesota Senate approved Monday a measure allowing parents to get a tax credit for sending their children to private schools, which Democrats denounced as "vouchers."

The bill allows a tax credit up to 70 percent for contributions to foundations that provide scholarships for nonpublic schools.

"We have a lot of great schools in Minnesota, we have a lot of great educators in Minnesota...But it's also no doubt that there are tens of thousands of kids who are not having their needs met," said Sen. Roger Chamberlain, the Republican chair of the tax committee.

Meanwhile, critics call the measure "vouchers" under another name.

"No matter what school you send your child to, if that child is precariously housed, if that child is homeless, if that child lives in an environment of generational poverty, they are not going to do well," said Sen. Jeff Hayden (DFL- Minneapolis). "There is no magic that happens at private schools."

The school tax credit is part of a larger bill that includes a series of lower income tax cuts.

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