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Republican lawmakers have offered a bill that would give tax credits to parents who home school their children or send their children to private school. The measure is H 41: Tax Fairness in Education.

The measure would apply to a married couple filing jointly who have $100,000 or less in taxable income. The credit itself would be worth $1,250 per semester for a total of a $2,500 per year.

Liberal writers have blasted the idea, saying it’s a way to drain money from the public schools. (See Fitzsimon.) Historically, Democrats have opposed such measures on the grounds that they would drain resources from public education.

But Rep. Marcus Brandon, a High Point Democrat and not one who is ever likely to get the Blue Dog label, has signed onto the bill. He’s the only Democrat among the 29 co-sponsors.

“I promised that I was going to return the power of decision making back to the parents, the teacher and the students,” said Brandon, who is in his first term after defeating Rep. Earl Jones last year. “I do want to say, this is an opportunity to work on both sides of the isle to create a solution for … our education system.”

Brandon said he supports public schools and wants to make sure the tax credit won’t hurt public schools funding.

“I also recognize that there are other constituents that have to be able to learn differently. There are other settings. Not everybody works in the same setting. There is no one size fits all for anything.

“And so this allows us to at least get in the conversation, maybe, as long as other side … protects public schools in addition to this,” Brandon said.

Click below to watch Brandon explain his support for the bill.

Brandon 020411 from Mark Binker on Vimeo.