To Kirsten Baesler, who oversees K-12 programs at the U.S. Department of Education, the legislation reflects the Trump administration’s approach to policy. 

“Returning education to the states means we have to accept the decisions some states are making,” the assistant secretary said last week at a Harvard University gathering where discussions over the dominated the event. Thirty states have opted in, but most Democrat-led states have not.

Starting next year, the program will allow taxpayers to donate up to $1,700 annually to a nonprofit scholarship granting organization, or SGO, and deduct that from their tax liability. Families receiving scholarships would be able to use the money for a broad range of education expenses, from private school tuition to supplemental tutoring and therapy services. For now, supporters have tried to warn the holdouts that donors will just direct their contributions to an SGO in another state. 

“As a Coloradan I hope California doesn’t opt in,” Gov. Jared Polis quipped at the event. “There are a lot of donors out there.” 

He’s the lone Democratic governor who has signed up so far. While New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she would opt in, she’s also getting from teachers unions and civil rights leaders to walk back that promise. 

Some Republicans in Congress want to take the choice away from governors. Members of the House and Senate last week that would repeal the opt-in requirement, meaning that students in every state would be eligible for awards. Experts consider the bill a long shot, especially since 34 Democrats in the Senate are to kill the program altogether. 

“Even if that suggests that a few more Democrats might be open to the [tax credit], it’s a big leap to get to wanting to force all states to participate — and an even bigger leap to vote with Republicans to make it happen,” said Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, a center-left think tank.

Not ‘quite so simple’ 

The Harvard event, focused on the rapid growth of education models like microschools and homeschooling, took place as the Treasury Department prepares to release official regulations for the program. The White House is currently reviewing the rules, which are expected before the end of the month.

A few key questions remain unanswered. 

One is whether married couples would be able to donate up to $3,400 or whether the contribution is capped at $1,700 per household. in Congress would prevent a so-called “marriage penalty.”

Another lingering issue is whether homeschoolers, who often attend microschools part time, will be able to participate. That too will likely be left up to states, Baesler told the attendees. IRS officials have said that in states that define homeschoolers and microschools as private schools, those students would be eligible for scholarships, but not all states do that.

Some at the Harvard event hoped that Baesler, speaking for the administration, would provide more clarity. But instead, she urged participants to lobby lawmakers in their states to make any changes that would allow more students to qualify. 

“I did not at all think she cleared anything up. I am not sure it is quite so simple as ‘let the states figure it out,’ ” said Angela Watson, a Johns Hopkins University researcher who focuses on . “My sense is that people are hopeful but worried and that there are a lot of ways this thing could go wrong — especially at the state-level.” 

Others want more details on the list of eligible expenses. The references Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, which parents can create to pay for a variety of education expenses, like fees, books, uniforms and technology, but from the Treasury Department offered few additional details. Ellie Cash, senior K-12 education policy adviser at Third Way, a centrist think tank, said that while the initial proposed rules will apply to scholarships in 2027, future final rules could include some changes based on public comments.

Public awareness

from the American Federation for Children, one of the leading pro-school choice advocacy groups that pushed for the tax credit, estimates that at the top end, the program could generate $160 billion a year for education if every eligible donor contributed the full $1,700. A more realistic figure, experts say, is in the $25 billion to $50 billion range, still significantly more than the federal government spends on Title I ($18 billion) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (around $15 billion). 

But despite excitement over the program among school choice advocates, from EdChoice, an advocacy and research organization, shows that 40% of adults still haven’t heard about it. Another 17% said they had only heard “a little.” When it was explained to them, 64% of respondents, expressed support while the rest were opposed or had no opinion.

While it was always clear that the tax credit would fund services for students in private schools, attention in recent months has shifted to the ways that public school students can benefit. Organizations that have long supported public schools are becoming SGOs so they can begin accepting donations. Polis said he was “most excited” about students having more afterschool opportunities. 

Officials with the nation’s largest teachers union don’t share the same enthusiasm.

“The members have made it clear that they are opposed,” National Education Association Executive Director Kim Anderson told the attendees. “We do see it as a diversion of public taxpayer dollars.”

Others on the panel urged her to view the program as a potential windfall for public school students.  Greg Nadeau, who leads Ed3, a weekly webinar about education topics, said because the majority of students attend public schools, he would predict that “the single most successful SGO in a state would be a teachers union SGO.”

But Anderson stood firm, saying that while the union won’t “walk away from a conversation” about how the program might benefit kids in public schools, members are highly skeptical of what Nadeau said will be the “largest and least-regulated” federal education program ever.

‘Under scrutiny’

Valant, with Brookings, said it’s still unclear what authority governors will have to prevent waste fraud and abuse in the program. Polis added that if Democrats retake the House in Congress, there could be a push for transparency and accountability.

“I would love to be able to show the efficacy of different donations,” he said. 

Some observers also worry that the Trump administration, in keeping with its stance against equity-focused policies, might try to place restrictions on SGOs.

“It is realistic to imagine an SGO devoted to, say, getting more Black teens into high quality high schools — even private high schools — would come under scrutiny,” said Josh Cowen, a Michigan State University professor who has urged blue states to opt in to the program. He called the administration’s intent to strip nonprofit colleges of their if they show any racial preferences a good example of “what’s actually keeping Democratic governors from jumping into the tax credit.”

Democrats that do sit out the first year, he said, will likely be more responsive to requests from superintendents to participate than to pressure from school choice advocates.

“This entire thing among Democratic governors rises or falls in direct proportion to how useful it is for public schools,” Cowen said. “So yes, it may take a roll-out year to demonstrate that.” 

Given that it’s money that doesn’t come from state or local taxes, we anticipate most states and districts will want in.

Our proposal: Districts set a fixed fee for access to a bundle of services. Imagine the district offers an $800 “K12-plus plan” that provides access to stuff like field trips, tutoring, homework help, assemblies, clubs or other services not required in the state’s definition of required public education. Every student signs up, but none — save for the wealthiest families — actually pay. Instead, a state-approved scholarship-granting organization sends the money from the withheld taxes to the district in the form of scholarships awarded for all the kiddos. 

To make this work at scale, employers are key. Major employers (think school districts, universities, hospitals, Walmart, Amazon) could invite employees to participate via a $1,700 payroll deduction to an SGO. Employees could pick their SGO and indicate which district would benefit, and since their contribution would immediately be offset by a corresponding dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal withholding, there would be no net change in their take-home pay. 

None of this would happen by itself. If state and local leaders want to tap the funds, they have work to do. Here’s where to start:

• Identify a state point of contact and launch a working group of state and district leaders. Include advocates, business community, PTAs, etc. The tax credit scholarship is a new and messy federal policy, and getting it up and running in each state will take a lot of coordination. Someone needs to be on point, and communication channels need to be set up.
  
• Engage the governor’s office. For a state to participate, its governor must opt in by Dec. 31. Most have, or eventually will, but some may take a while as they navigate tricky politics in their state. A few state legislatures have passed laws designating a different entity to opt in, effectively removing the decision from the governor’s desk and providing the state’s chief executive with some political cover for the decision to participate.
  
  Additionally, the governor or designated official will need to submit a list of qualified SGOs (also by Dec. 31). This step will require a process by which SGOs submit their information and the state verifies it.
  
• Identify a trustworthy SGO (or SGOs) ready to deliver scholarships to public schools. While the organization must be independent from the state, the hope is that a district-focused SGO will commit to communicating about the amount of expected contributions with districts, so they can set fees. There will also likely need to be a software platform enabling taxpayers to choose their district. The SGO will need to be approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 nonprofit and be listed on the state’s official list submitted to the IRS.
  
• Engage employers. Local employers need to understand the upside for students in public schools and how payroll deductions could work. They can also help shape what will likely become a major outreach effort to encourage taxpayer participation.
  
• Identify allowable fees. Each scholarship will need to be on behalf of a named student for an identified fee. Students will need to sign up (which can happen through the district). Lots of states have laws about what’s a permissible fee for public school students. (California’s laws are some of the strictest which, unless changed, might complicate this model in California). Since SGOs might not be able to predict their revenue by the start of each school year, districts might want to consider semester- or trimester-based fees.
  
• Set up data collection. Districts will need to ensure they have robust accounting for fee-related revenues (which have traditionally been treated as an afterthought). States will want to understand how funds are flowing. Giving state leaders visibility will enable them to address any inequities. Further, transparency is the best antidote to mischief, and even a small amount of fraud will sour the public’s appetite for participating.
  
• Consider income verification. The key to funding integrated services in schools is that every student participate. We hope the Treasury Department will allow families to sign a form attesting to their eligibility for scholarships based on income. This way, only a handful of wealthy families — those over 300% of their Area Median Gross Income — would need to pay the fee (our guess is that they won’t balk) or get funding from another source (say, their school’s PTA).
  
• Build a campaign explaining how public school students could benefit. Will they have richer electives and arts? Tutoring opportunities? Better career pathways? Some will want to focus on closing district budget deficits (the law’s language doesn’t prohibit supplanting), but keeping students at the center of the pitch is both good politics and good policy. Consider adding something that’s new: Perhaps drop-in math homework hours?
  
• Communicate! The federal scholarship tax credit should be on the agenda of every association conference, including those for superintendents, chief financial officers, boards and state boards of ed; local school board meetings; PTA briefings; and legislative hearings. There should be webinars, blog posts, media interviews and more. 

It might be tempting to wait a year and start in 2028, and there are still open questions — especially since Treasury’s draft regulations won’t be out until September. But delaying that long to get started puts public schools at real risk of missing out on some of this opportunity. Not only would schools forgo a year’s worth of funds, but taxpayer decisions and SGO relationships could form around other recipients. Also worrisome is that by waiting, a state wouldn’t be able to tap what is sure to be a big national push to get taxpayers signed up. 

For better or worse, this new federal money isn’t anything like traditional funding formula dollars. How much flows to public schools will depend almost entirely on how actively leaders pursue it.

The announcement represents a major win for supporters of private school choice who have been lobbying Democratic governors to participate in the program. However, Hochul’s office said she intends to review the details before making the decision official.

The American Federation for Children, a national school choice advocacy group, said Thursday night that Hochul first made the announcement at a private gathering. , an organization that supports Jewish religious education, according to an Agudath spokesperson.

Emma Wallner, a spokesperson for the governor, confirmed Hochul’s plans to opt in to the tax credit.

“Governor Hochul is supportive of the federal tax credit scholarship and its potential to help New York students and schools,” Wallner wrote in a statement. “Our office awaits information from the federal government on the program and will thoroughly review the details of the policy for poison pills that could harm New York’s education system.”

The , which will clarify, for example, how donated money might benefit public school students or whether states can prevent scholarship-granting organizations from discriminating against certain students.

The tax credit was approved last year as part of the Republican-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It allows taxpayers to get a dollar-for-dollar credit up to $1,700 on their federal taxes if they donate money to an eligible scholarship-granting organization. These organizations could give students money for private school tuition, tutoring, and other educational expenses.

Governors, however, have to opt into the program for students in their state to benefit.

“Finally, school choice is coming to New York, thanks to the courage of Governor Hochul and the tremendous advocacy of countless families, educators, and supporters who have worked for generations to advance options for kids who need them,” American Federation for Children CEO Tommy Schultz said in a press release.

According to a , 29 states, nearly all of them led by Republicans, have opted into the tax credit. That list does not include New York.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is the . Under pressure from Republican lawmakers, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said last year that he .

Some Democratic governors have been strongly opposed. In Wisconsin, which launched one of the nation’s earliest voucher programs, . In a veto statement, he cited the lack of any accountability measures in the federal program.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear also , as did , but Republican-controlled legislatures overrode vetoes in both states.

Other Democratic governors are taking a wait-and-see approach. Democratic backers of expanding school choice and that states that don’t opt in risk their own taxpayers donating to scholarship groups in other states. Opponents say the program undermines public education and threatens funding, .

Nationally and in New York, supporters of religious education have lobbied for the tax credit as a way to ease the tuition burden for families.

“This is extraordinary news for Jewish families and for every community across our state,” said Sydney Altfield, the CEO of Teach NYS, an organization that lobbies for public funding for Jewish schools. “Blue states across the country will now be watching closely.”

Hochul has courted the Orthodox Jewish community, an influential voting bloc, as she faces reelection in November. Along with state legislative leaders, she previously oversight of private schools, a measure that would largely benefit certain yeshivas that . The state’s education commissioner, Betty Rosa, called the move a “travesty.”

Hochul has backed other efforts to expand school choice since taking office nearly five years ago, drawing pushback from other New York Democrats. In 2023, she proposed to in New York City, even as the publicly funded yet privately managed schools have fallen out of favor among many left-leaning elected officials. State lawmakers but ultimately approved a more .

Hochul has also touted her commitment to funding traditional public schools and has presided over increases in state spending. State officials indicated Thursday that schools should expect at least a 2% bump in the state’s forthcoming budget, which is more than a month overdue and has .

“I’m proud of the resources we have put into education,” she told reporters Thursday.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at .

Mississippi will soon be able to get a break on their taxes for contributing to private-school scholarships, thanks to a federal program.

Gov. Tate Reeves announced Monday that he had opted the state into the program. It’s a win for school-choice proponents, as Mississippi lawmakers continue to debate the policy on the state level.

School choice — policies aimed at giving families more educational options, often funding those choices with public money —  is the top issue of the current legislative session, led by House Speaker Jason White. Both chambers have passed school-choice bills, but Senate leaders have firmly taken a stance against programs that send public dollars to private schools, as the federal tax-credit program does.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for Âé¶čŸ«Æ· Newsletter

School-choice proponents say the policies give parents more control over their children’s education. Opponents argue that they siphon money away from the public education system, which is required to serve every child.

“Mississippi believes that parents – not government – know what’s best for their children’s education,” Reeves said in his announcement.

The federal tax-credit program, created by President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” allows Mississippians to contribute up to $1,700 to an organization that awards scholarships to private-school students, starting in federal tax year 2027. Donors will be given a break on their taxes equal to the amount they contribute — that’s called a dollar-for-dollar tax credit, and it’s about three times as much as people receive from donating to a children’s hospital or other causes.

To qualify for these scholarships, one can earn up to 300% of the area’s median income. That’s six-figures in Mississippi, or about $150,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Research shows a majority of private-school vouchers across the country go to students who could already afford and were attending private schools.

In the coming months, Reeves’ office will designate eligible scholarship-granting organizations — groups that will disburse these vouchers, whose sole purpose must be doing so — to participate in the program.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

Gov. Jared Polis plans to opt Colorado into a federal tax-credit scholarship program, opening the door to private school choice in a Democratic state where lawmakers and voters have rejected previous proposals.

Conservatives, children’s advocates, and supporters of school choice praised the decision for its possibility to raise money for all students’ education. Meanwhile, a coalition of public school advocates sent a letter to Polis in December asking him to reconsider.

The voucher-like program, part of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill, has the potential to generate billions of dollars for private school tuition and other educational expenses, such as tutoring, but governors have to decide whether to participate.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for Âé¶čŸ«Æ· Newsletter

Polis appears to be the . North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein did so in August under pressure from state Republican lawmakers who have dramatically expanded the state’s voucher system. Polis also is the second governor to opt in from a state where voters rejected a school choice measure at the ballot. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, , setting the stage for Nebraska’s first private school choice program after voters there overturned voucher legislation in 2024.

School choice supporters had hoped the federal program would expand educational opportunities in states where politics made it difficult or impossible to pass voucher legislation. Polis, meanwhile, said he saw other potential benefits.

Polis spokesperson Shelby Wieman said in a Dec. 5 statement that the governor would not have voted for the budget bill, but he is not interested in leaving hundreds of millions in federal money on the table that could provide additional funding for after-school programming, summer school, scholarships, and academic tutoring.

“This tax credit creates an immense opportunity for Coloradans to support students in our state, but only if we opt in,” she said. “He welcomes the opportunity to work with school districts and other education stakeholders to help ensure this credit can benefit the greatest number of students across our state with evidence-based programs that supplement school days. He encourages the administration to ensure these tax credits lead to improved student outcomes.”

The tax-credit program allows taxpayers to reduce their tax liability if they donate to eligible scholarship-granting organizations, which then pay for students’ educational expenses.

The law allows donations to benefit public and private school students alike, but how feasible it might be to harness donations for public school students will depend in part on rules that the Treasury Department has yet to issue.

that Polis plans to opt Colorado into the program. He expressed openness to the idea last summer and earlier in his career. Polis said in a statement that he doesn’t believe vouchers are a good use of public funds and that this tax credit is not a voucher.

States officially opt in by presenting a list of eligible scholarship-granting organizations to the Treasury Department, a step that must wait until rules are finalized next year.

Polis’ decision doesn’t necessarily mean Colorado will participate in the tax-credit program over the long term. Polis is term-limited, and the winner of the governor’s race next year could make a different decision.

Supporters of Polis’ decision agreed that the tax credits present an opportunity for the state to raise millions for students, including to support them in out-of-school opportunities and to pay for transportation and school supplies. Advocates say the tax-credit scholarship program helps students in underperforming schools attend other school options.

Tony Lewis, executive director of the Donnell-Kay Foundation, which works on education policy, said he hopes the tax credit rules allow scholarship-granting organizations the ability to pay for a wide range of activities, such as sports, after-school programs, theater classes, and summer camps. (The Donnell-Kay Foundation also has provided funding to Chalkbeat. Read more about our supporters and our ethics policy .)

“If we pass up this opportunity to opt in now, we close any possibility of doing good work for public school kids,” he said. “Why not keep your options open?”

The Colorado Children’s Campaign, an advocacy organization, also expressed optimism about the potential to benefit public school students.

And Ready Colorado Executive Director Brenda Dickhoner said the decision means more opportunities for kids, especially those wanting to participate in enrichment programs. The conservative organization focuses on school choice and education reform.

“It’s a way for us to solve this problem of closing this opportunity gap, and making it more equitable for kids to access after school enrichment, whether it’s band or sports or any type of tutoring,” she said in an interview.

The program doesn’t require state investment. Instead, it allows states to decide whether taxpayers can donate funds to scholarship-granting organizations and receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit. Individual taxpayers can claim a credit of up to $1,700 starting in 2027.

Those organizations would give the money to parents to pay for education expenses, such as a students’ private school tuition, books, transportation, and uniforms. Families earning up to 300% of area median income would qualify. That threshold includes well-off families in expensive urban areas but might exclude middle-class families in some rural communities.

, which would have enshrined the right to school choice in the state’s Constitution. In 2021, they .

Polis reiterated his decision to opt in despite pleas from a that delivered a letter to Polis saying the state should not participate.

The letter said the state should focus on providing more resources to schools and respect voters’ wishes to keep vouchers out of the state.

The group added that the state can and must do better when it comes to public education. “But publicly funded school vouchers are not the way to achieve this,” the letter says.

The letter says studies have shown vouchers provide mixed results in improving student achievement. It also says the program lacks public accountability and allows discrimination against children with disabilities or who identify as LGBTQ+.

“Unlike the private or religious schools that vouchers support, our public schools are obligated to teach all students, holding fast to the American ideal of public education as a springboard to success and as necessary to a well-functioning democracy,” the letter says.

The list of organizations calling on Polis to reject the plan include the Colorado Education Association, Colorado Fiscal Institute, Colorado PTA, Movimiento Poder, and The Bell Policy Center.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat on Dec. 5, 2025. Sign up for their newsletters at .

Late Sunday night, the House Budget Committee passed a major GOP tax bill after four hard-line Republicans, who had previously stood in opposition, changed their vote to “present,” according to reporting from . The massive bill, which contains the Educational Choice for Children Act, now heads to the House floor where a slim GOP majority means leadership can afford to lose the votes of only two Republican lawmakers to move the measure forward to the Senate.

Updated, May 16

Four hard-line House Republicans joined all Democrats Friday in killing the GOP tax bill, which contained the Educational Choice for Children Act, according to The lawmakers argued as it stands, the tax cuts would only add to the nation’s $36 trillion debt and said they’d need to see larger spending cuts to vote in favor. The 16-21 Budget Committee vote rejecting the complicates Speaker Mike Johnson’s goal of approving the measure before Memorial Day.

Clarification appended

A historic bill creating a first-of-its-kind, nationwide tax credit scholarship program to expand private school choice is part of a sweeping Republican tax bill approved by the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday. 

“It is a true game changer that we think would really supercharge school choice across the country,” said John Schilling, senior advisor for the American Federation for Children, a conservative school choice advocacy group.

The would provide money to families in all 50 states making less than three times their area’s median income. The recipients, including families who homeschool, could spend it on a large range of education-related expenses, including private and parochial school tuition, books and other instructional material, online classes, private tutoring, fees for dual enrollment and educational therapies. 

The measure would create $5 billion in annual tax credits starting next year for individuals who donate cash or stocks to nonprofit Scholarship Granting Organizations, which have discretion over handing out the funds. Donors would receive an 1:1 return, allowing them to reduce their taxable income by $1 for every dollar donated, up to $5,000 or 10% of their adjusted gross income.

Currently, 1.2 million students are being served by 76 private school choice programs enacted in 34 states, according to Patrick Wolf, graduate director of the at the University of Arkansas. Those programs include vouchers, which give parents public money directly for private school tuition, and Education Savings Accounts, which set aside public money for a range of educational expenses. Twenty-one of those states already have tax credit scholarship programs, according to . That number might be about to radically change. 

“If the ECCA is enacted and the maximum amount of tax credits 
 are claimed through individual donations, basically the number of students being supported by private school choice programs across the country would double in one year,” Wolf told Âé¶čŸ«Æ·. “A 100% increase in a single year in the number of people being served by private school choice programs. That’s a big deal.”

Pro-choice advocates and conservative leaders celebrated the bill’s advancement, arguing it will give unprecedented school choice access to families across the country who have historically been locked out, including in Democratic-controlled states where lawmakers generally oppose private school choice. Children, they say, will finally have the opportunity to be matched with the learning environment and tools that suit them best, largely regardless of how much money their parents make. And the tax incentives will allow individuals to fund it.

Meanwhile, critics expressed serious concern, claiming the far-reaching measure would essentially use taxpayer money to fund largely unregulated private schools primed for discrimination and that loopholes in the bill allow for a system akin to a tax shelter. They also argue wealthier individuals in urban areas — both those donating and those receiving funds — stand to benefit the most, while those in underserved rural areas could be harmed. 

And, they say, the $5 billion in taxes the government will lose out on has to come from somewhere and will likely drain resources from public schools, which serve the majority of U.S. students.

“This would be a backdoor way of creating what is essentially a very large, nationwide private school voucher program, and it would be created by sneaking it into this big budget reconciliation bill,” said Jon Valant, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who authored arguing against the measure. “It may very well pass without most Americans knowing what it is and what it does.”

Because the choice act is part of the fast-track budget reconciliation process, it faces an easier road to passage in the Senate, requiring a simple 51-vote majority, rather than 60, and is not subject to stalling by the filibuster. In the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority, Speaker Mike Johnson has said he expects to have the budget bill done by

With a $5 billion cap, Valant pointed out, the tax credit scholarship “would overnight become one of the largest federal education programs that we have. As one of those programs, it just doesn’t meet the kinds of standards that I think we should expect for public spending in education.”

While public funding of school choice has been around since at least the late ’90s, he said there’s been a shift in the philosophy and incentives behind the measures. Historically, they were far more targeted to lower-income students or those with disabilities. 

But, “this newer wave of private school choice policies reflects very different motivations,” he said, arguing that when programs have almost-universal eligibility and are set up in ways that help wealthier people, “it’s really not at all equity- and opportunity-motivated policy.”

One way families with greater wealth are incentivized to donate? Stockholders stand to benefit through a loophole that would exempt them from paying capital gains taxes. For example, if an individual were to donate $10,000 worth of stock that they had originally purchased at $2,000, they’d still get back the full $10,000 in tax credits without ever having to pay capital gains on the $8,000 profit.

If the choice act passes, it would run through 2029, with the ability to increase the cap by up to 5% each year. It’s part of the “one big, beautiful bill” approved by the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday by 26-19 vote along party lines. Among many other provisions, the controversial bill would make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, cut funding to and extend the while raising it to $2,500 per child through 2028.

The specifics for the tax credit scholarship in the omnibus tax bill differ from the original act introduced in January in three major ways: the $10 billion cap has been cut in half; only individual taxpayers, not corporations, are eligible to donate; and participating private and parochial schools must follow and provide mandated services and accommodations to special education students as outlined in their Individualized Education Program.  

“That’s a huge regulatory burden for small private schools, and in a sense, is potentially a poison pill for the legislation,” Wolf said.

Advocates for students with disabilities maintain that the choice act does not provide the same regulatory protections to special education students in private and parochial schools as those received by special education students in public schools under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.

Experts emphasized that the bill must still go through multiple committees and the reconciliation process, so is subject to significant changes. Pro-choice advocates in particular are hoping the final language more closely mirrors that of the original bill, which allowed corporations to participate and did not require private and religious schools to comply with a student’s IEP.

A version of the bill was introduced under the first Trump administration but didn’t really gain momentum at the time. A new version was re-introduced this January by Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisania Republican who chairs the Senate education committee, and a number of his colleagues. 

“For years I’ve advocated for school choice with my Educational Choice for Children Act. I am pleased to see it included in the big, beautiful bill,” Cassidy said in a statement. “Expanding President Trump’s tax cuts is about preserving the American Dream. Giving parents the ability to choose the best education for their child makes the dream possible.”

Clarification: The story has been updated to more precisely reflect the language in the Educational Choice for Children Act around private and parochial schools’ obligation to provide services to special education students.