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Yavneh Hebrew Academy), other Jewish day schools, and private
schools which do not provide religious education.7
Petitioners’ expert opined about the market value of a
secular education provided by Emek and Yeshiva Rav Isacsohn. He
apparently was proceeding from the assumption that a dual
payments analysis applies in this case; i.e., that petitioners
may deduct the excess of the tuition they paid over the market
value of a secular education at Emek and Yeshiva Rav Isacsohn.
However, more fundamentally, the record speaks to whether a dual
payments analysis applies in this case at all.
Petitioners must have a charitable intent to be entitled to
a deduction under section 170 for part of their tuition payments.
See Sklar v. Commissioner, supra at 612; see also sec. 170(c);
United States v. Am. Bar Endowment, 477 U.S. at 117-118. On the
basis of evidence in the record regarding tuition at various Los
7 The record also suggests several factors that may bear on
the value of an elementary and secondary education, such as
teachers’ salaries and seniority, whether teachers are certified,
and student-teacher ratios; the amount of time students spend in
classes and whether classes are held in the morning or afternoon
or at different levels of difficulty; whether the school is
accredited; the quality of libraries and facilities such as
computer science and language laboratories, playgrounds and
athletic facilities, and music and art facilities; nearness of
the school to the student’s home; average standardized test
scores; dress codes, personal safely of students, and prevalence
of disciplinary problems; the success of the students at gaining
admission to secular colleges; whether the school teaches the
religion of the parents; and the percent of tuition devoted to
administration costs.
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