Paul Bender

Professor Paul Bender was quoted recently in an Arizona Republic story, “U.S. Supreme Court to weigh Arizona’s tax-credit law.”

The May 25 article, by reporters Pat Kossan and Ronald J. Hansen, discusses the Court’s decision to review the constitutionality of an Arizona program that diverts state tax revenue into private-school scholarships.

“Most of the money in Arizona is awarded by school-tuition organizations affiliated with religious schools and is usable only at religious schools,” said Bender, the attorney representing those opposed to the tax credits.

Supporters of the program say tax money does not go directly to private and religious schools, but that donors can contribute to a variety of private-school-tuition organizations, including some secular ones, and parents decide which schools their child attends, said Jeremy Tedesco, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group that is helping defend the Arizona program.