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School choice promotes creativity and competition. School choice unfairly siphons funding from public schools.
Both are well-worn arguments in the battle over public and private K-12 education.
But those arguments took on new importance Wednesday as U.S. senators made the case for and against the new federal tax-credit scholarship program during an enthusiastic hearing Wednesday.
The landmark program was established by last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill and enthusiastically supported by President Donald Trump. The tax credit could potentially generate billions for families’ private school tuition, as well as homeschooling and academic enrichment costs. But states have to opt in.
At least 23 states, mostly led by Republican governors, have officially opted into the program, according to a tally from the Education and Treasury departments released Tuesday. State-level voucher programs are also proliferating across the country.
Now the pressure is on Democratic governors to either opt in or stay out. So far just two — Gov. Jared Polis in Colorado and Gov. Josh Stein in North Carolina — have said their states will likely participate. Other Democratic governors are facing pressure from both supporters and opponents of the program, which is set to launch in January 2027.
“It’s not about public school versus private, not about teachers versus parents, not about Republicans versus Democrats,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. “It’s about giving the parent access to the innovative educational program best for her child.”
But Democratic senators used the hearing to blast the program, saying it would deepen educational inequality.
“We should not be creating a two-tier education system in America, private schools for the wealthy, and well-connected, and severely underfunded and under-resourced public schools for low-income, disabled and working class kids,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Democrat.
Nearly all 23 states that have opted in are led by Republican governors: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Virginia’s situation stands out: Former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said his state would opt in, just before successor Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, took office in January. Spanberger’s office did not respond to a request for comment about whether the state would change course.
In addition to the Democratic governors of Colorado and North Carolina, the GOP governors of Florida and Utah have also indicated their states will opt in, Education Week reported.
A spokesperson for Polis did not respond to a reporter’s question about why Colorado was not on the list released by the U.S. Department of Education.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, is getting pressure from both ends of the political spectrum. Republican lawmakers say the state shouldn’t leave money on the table for children’s education. But advocacy groups that are urging the governor to reject the program have cited concerns about transparency.
Pritzker’s office has said the governor is still considering the issue, local station 25NewsNow reported.
Under the program, families can donate up to $1,700 to scholarship-granting organizations and receive an equivalent tax credit back. But key aspects of the program must still be determined by the federal government.
The Treasury Department is developing draft rules for how much authority states will have over the program. Those rules could determine how easily donations made under the tax credit could be used to benefit public school students alongside private school students. Such decisions could influence whether Democratic governors get on board.
Wednesday’s hearing took place during National School Choice Week, an annual event celebrated by groups that support programs like vouchers and charter schools nationwide.
Proponents of the tax credit said in Wednesday’s hearing that it will fuel innovative models of education to serve vulnerable kids.
John Kirtley, the chairman of Step Up for Students, which administers scholarships through Florida’s Education Scholarship Accounts program, said the state has become a “hotbed of innovation” for unique education programs, such as science lessons from a marine biologist for home-schooled children. Parents not satisfied with public schools have used education savings accounts successfully, he said.
“Giving the parent the flexibility not just to find a different school, but to customize their education with the education savings account to a great degree really is a lifesaver for them,” he said.
But in Arizona, which has several private school choice programs, there’s an “illusion of choice” because private school is still more easily available for wealthy families than low-income families, said Marisol Garcia, an educator and president of the Arizona Education Association.
“Private school tuition in Phoenix has exceeded $20,000 a year, leaving families thousands of dollars short,” she said.
Organizations have been working to increase the tax credit’s impact. Earlier this week, the American Federation for Children, an organization that’s long supported voucher programs, announced the launch of its own scholarship fund to accept donations via the federal tax credits.
Estimates for how much money Americans will claim under the tax credit have been as high as $51 billion but it could be much less.
Lily Altavena is a national reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Lily at laltavena@chalkbeat.org.
