Governor Rod Blagojevich’s push to provide a $1,000 tax credit to parents sending their children to college is not the best way to help with the costs of higher education.

More money for college? Who could possibly disagree with that?

Well, there are two main problems with the proposal, which suspiciously came just as Blagojevich is preparing for a re-election bid.

The first is that not all parents elect or can afford to pay for junior’s stint at college. The program should focus on students instead of parents. The second problem comes with the way this proposal would be funded — privatizing student loans. This means the somewhat lenient state loan programs will be sold to a company looking to make a profit.

The tax credit would be for parents who have children in their freshman and sophomore years who maintain at least a “B” average.

Not all have jumped on Blagojevich’s boat, however. Some lawmakers want the credit to apply to students who maintain at least “C” average, while others feel the money would be better spent helping needy families in particular, according to an April 5 Associated Press article.

But I believe helping parents rather than the students directly is faulty. Nothing requires parents to actually pay tuition bills with their larger tax refund. Parents may not approve of a path their child is taking or may simply have other financial obligations.

Besides, some students simply want to pay for their own schooling. They are adults by this point.

Some college students may be returning school after working for a time or even raising a family. If Blagojevich really wanted to help students, he would provide grants or increase funding at public colleges and universities.

But everyone knows younger people don’t vote as much as older ones. And who is getting this tax break again?

An even more serious issue comes with the funding for Blagojevich’s proposal. The state’s student loan portfolio has ballooned to $3.8 billion. A one-time sale of the loans would only bring a few million dollars in revenue, with $100 million of that set aside for the tax credit program. The cost for the governor’s program is $90 million a year, so the money would be gone in just over a year.

Blagojevich tried to sell the student loan portfolio last summer, but the plan fizzled in Congress just before the midnight deadline for its passing. This new plan just puts a candy coating around the bitter bill of selling off students’ futures.

So, our esteemed governor wants to put student loans in private hands forever just for a short-term tax break to help those most likely to vote in the upcoming election.

Kind of makes you think about Blagojevich’s real priorities.