WATCH: School choice proponents want state, federal programs
States with existing school choice programs continue to opt into the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit Program, with supporters arguing the federal program can complement what the states offer.
Currently 33 states and Washington, D.C., have some form of school choice. There are 23 voucher programs nationwide across 13 states and Washington, D.C., while Education Savings Accounts are another popular kind of state school choice program, according to the American Federation for Children.
Thirty states have opted into the Trump administration’s Education Freedom Tax Credit Program, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2027.
Katie Everett, executive director of The Lynch Foundation, said the federal program will broaden opportunities for individuals to support educational causes through charitable giving.
“This gives an opportunity to citizens all over our country. Instead of giving money to the federal government, they get to donate to a charity that provides educational resources to students,” Everett told The Center Square. “We don’t see this necessarily as a school choice program. We see this as the greatest philanthropic opportunity our country has ever seen.”
Now that the U.S. Department of the Treasury has provided additional clarification on the program’s rules and regulations, school choice supporters are hopeful that more Democratic governors will choose to participate.
Jorge Elorza, CEO of Democrats for Education Reform, told The Center Square that Democrats have fallen behind both politically and in terms of policy when it comes to K-12 education.
Elorza acknowledged that a lack of trust for the Trump administration among Democrats could make some governors hesitant to participate. But he said the federal tax credit program should not be viewed as inherently conservative or Republican.
“Voters are watching. They see that we have been silent on this issue,” Elorza told the Center Square. “Now there is a political imperative for us to reprioritize and refocus on K-12 education. And it can’t be more of the same. It can’t just be more money to be more of the same. That is not working.”
As public education spending approaches $1 trillion nationally, taxpayers and policymakers question the return on that investment as national test scores and proficiency levels decline.
Ryan Cantrell, chief state strategy officer at the American Federation for Children, told The Center Square that state school choice programs give parents greater control over how education dollars are spent.
“Our goal should be for them to get the best education possible so that they can get the best and be good taxpayers, be good stewards of that and ultimately give back to our economy,” Cantrell told The Center Square. “So that is exactly what we see through these school choice programs at the state level, and the federal program is just going to supercharge that possibility for a lot of families.”
Cantrell and other school choice advocates have highlighted that for states that have both Education Savings Accounts and vouchers as well as opt into the federal tax credit program that provides additional funding opportunity for families to afford the cost of tutoring and other educational material.
Supporters point to states such as Oklahoma, Mississippi, Florida and Arizona as examples that have expanded school choice options.
Florida offers the Family Empowerment Scholarship, which includes both vouchers and education savings accounts for students seeking educational options.
Arizona has seen particularly rapid growth in its ESA program, with more than 100,000 students enrolled for the 2026-27 school year.
State school choice programs come from public funds. The federal education tax credit, on the other hand, is funded by Savings Granting Organizations, which receives funds from individuals without ties to public education funding.
The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Services have clarified that the federal program could support almost 700 SGOs with over 11 million taxpayers generating $26 billion in annual contributions by 2030.
Darla Romfo, president and CEO of Children’s Scholarship Fund, an SGO participating in the federal education tax credit program, said this credit is nothing like previous programs because the SGOs need to engage a much larger pool of relatively small donors.
“You’re going to have to reach out and convert a lot of people who’ve never written a check before to a charity or maybe written a check of $300 or $400. These are not people who are regularly being philanthropists or being philanthropists at a scale that’s even up to $1,700 or $3,400,” Romfo told The Center Square.
“So reaching all those people and converting them into donors is a whole new exercise because most people are raising money in much bigger chunks of money,” Romfo added.
Shelby Doyle, senior vice president of policy and national partnerships at the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, said the federal program could tap into charitable resources that otherwise would not reach families seeking educational alternatives.
“I think it is a really easy sell to convince someone (saying), ‘Hey, this money you were going to pay the federal government in taxes anyway, would you like to give it to someone to have a scholarship for reading tutoring?’ Who is going to say no to that? I’m not,” Doyle said.
“The bottom line is families everywhere want this kind of flexibility,” Doyle told The Center Square. “There is money sitting, waiting in the pockets of the people in your community that can be channeled towards helping more kids access opportunities that will help them have a better education and a better life.”
Sunny
