Late Friday afternoon, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) opted into a federal tax credit scholarship program that could help families pay for tutoring, specialized services, reliable after-school care, technology, transportation, school supplies, or tuition. This showed political courage. The program is opposed by teachers unions. Hochul did the right thing anyway. Other Democratic governors should follow her lead.
Starting in 2027, under the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, individuals can claim a federal tax credit of up to $1,700, and couples up to $3,400, for contributions to Scholarship Granting Organizations. Those organizations fund scholarships for eligible K-12 students in all schools to cover approved expenses.
The program comes with one catch. A governor has to opt in. Including Hochul, over 30 already have. Families in the other states are still waiting to learn whether their leaders will let them in.
It has become a partisan issue, with many Democratic governors holding back, waiting to see who among their blue state colleagues would make the first move. Hochul broke that stalemate.
The stakes are high. The IRS estimates that by 2030, scholarship-granting organizations could receive $26 billion a year nationally. Education Reform Now projects the program could mean $3.1 billion for California, $1.5 billion for New York, $960 million for Pennsylvania, $840 million for New Jersey, and $550 million for Maryland. That is real money for tutoring centers, therapists, and after-school programs, and it comes from private donations rather than state budgets.
These projections were based on a maximum $1,700 donation. The recently announced regulations allow up to $3,400 for joint filings, so states could see available scholarship funding that is even higher.
Some governors said they were waiting for clear rules. That was reasonable. But the Treasury Department and the IRS have now issued guidance for the 2027 launch. The question is no longer what Washington will say. It’s what governors will do.
Skeptics will call this school choice by another name, but the regulations say otherwise. Students in public, private, and religious schools are all eligible.
We asked public school teachers. Maggie Boyd Feurtado, a retired public school math teacher, told my organization, Teach Coalition, that she saw some students needed one-on-one tutoring to catch up, while parents of advanced students asked about outside enrichment programs. “The problem was not access to an appropriate program but the financial burden it would have caused,” she said. The same was true for students who wanted test-prep classes. “They simply couldn’t afford it.”
These needs have nothing to do with which building a child walks into in the morning. For a lot of children, the gap between struggling and thriving is one service their family can’t afford.
It would be easy for a governor to see this program through the lens of old partisan fights and reach for a reflexive no. But a struggling reader doesn’t care which party designed the tax credit. A parent juggling therapy bills doesn’t care who gets credit for opting in. They care whether the help arrives.
Governors in both parties are campaigning on affordability right now. Here is privately funded, federally credited help for families, at no cost to the state budget. Turning it away would take some explaining.
TEACHERS UNIONS ARE FALLING NEW YORK CITY STUDENTS
Governors should scrutinize the rules, build strong oversight, and choose qualified organizations. That’s their job. But none of that is a reason to wait.
The governors who haven’t yet opted in should act now. The rules are written, dozens of their colleagues have already said yes, and the clock to 2027 is ticking. Put children ahead of politics. Opt in now, while there’s still time to do it right.
Sydney Altfield is the CEO of Teach Coalition, working with Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, and nonpublic school partners to champion policies that put students and families first.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
