A Federal School-Choice Breakthrough

For decades, school choice has been a cause largely fought in the states. From Florida’s scholarship programs to Arizona’s education savings accounts, reformers have battled entrenched unions and bureaucracies to give parents more control over their children’s education.

Now, thanks to the Working Families Tax Credit, the cause of educational freedom has achieved a landmark national breakthrough – a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for school choice.

The Educational Choice for Children Act, enacted as part of the broader fiscal and tax package, creates a new federal dollar-for-dollar tax credit worth up to $1,700 per taxpayer for donations to certified Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs). These nonprofits must, by law, spend at least 90% of their revenue directly on scholarships for children from lower- and middle-income families. The money can be used for tuition, tutoring, textbooks, transportation, or other educational expenses – whatever helps a child learn best. These scholarships are not a government handout. They’re voluntary, private acts of generosity encouraged by the tax code.

That’s the beauty of the program. For the first time, Washington has put the federal government’s thumb on the side of parents and students, not systems and unions. Instead of sending more money to bureaucracies that too often fail, the new law rewards taxpayers who help children access better options.

It’s a small shift in the grand scheme of the federal budget, but a massive shift in principle. As Milton Friedman argued 70 years ago, education funding should follow the student, not the school system. The new dollar-for-dollar tax credit moves America closer to that ideal. For families with children trapped in failing public schools, this can mean the difference between hope and despair.

The program’s design also ensures fiscal integrity and accountability. SGOs must be independent, IRS-recognized charities. They can’t give scholarships to just one school or steer money toward a donor’s chosen student. Their administrative expenses are strictly capped. And all funds must go to families earning under 300% of their area’s median income, thereby ensuring that scholarships reach those who need them most.

If anything, critics should applaud a well-structured, tightly limited approach. But in today’s education politics, even generosity provokes outrage.

Some Democratic governors, including those in Oregon and New Mexico, have already announced they will refuse to opt in to the program. That’s right – because the law leaves participation up to each state, those governors are blocking their own constituents from benefiting. Parents in those states who might wish to send their kids to safer or higher-performing schools will get nothing. And donors who want to help low-income children in their communities will see their charitable impulse penalized by the state’s political leadership’s obstinacy.

Thankfully, not every governor is so timid or ideological. Nebraska’s Jim Pillen deserves immense credit for becoming the first to officially opt in. On Sept. 29, Gov. Pillen signed an executive order making Nebraska the inaugural participant in the federal program. “This is about freedom, opportunity, and doing what’s right for kids,” he said, and he’s right. By acting early, Nebraska ensures that its families and scholarship foundations will be ready to participate when the program goes live in 2027.

Why in the world would anyone object to that?

Why object to a policy that costs the government nothing directly, relies entirely on voluntary donations, and sends help to children instead of bureaucracies?

Opponents claim the program “diverts” resources from public schools. But nothing in this law touches public school funding. No federal dollar is being redirected; it’s simply a credit for citizens who choose to give their own money to help others. If the teachers’ unions and their political allies truly believed in equity, they’d be cheering the chance for poor families to enjoy the same educational freedom as the wealthy. Instead, they prefer to maintain their monopolies.

The real fear, of course, is that this idea will work – and spread. Once families in Nebraska start benefiting from thousands of new scholarships, other states will notice. Governors will face pressure from parents asking, “Why not us?” As they should. Few things are more politically powerful than a grateful parent who can finally afford a better education for her child.

That’s why Nebraska’s leadership matters. Just as every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, every national movement needs a first mover, a state willing to prove that the sky doesn’t fall when you try something new. From the Homestead Act to agricultural innovation, the Cornhusker State has a history of pioneering practical freedom. Pillen’s decisions fit squarely in that tradition.

The federal government’s role should never be to dictate education from Washington. But it can and should create incentives for Americans to help one another. The Educational Choice for Children Act does exactly that – channeling private generosity toward one of the most vital needs of our time: rescuing children from failing schools and giving them the freedom to thrive.

This is an historic first step. Congress and the states should build on it. The more Americans who choose to invest in a child’s future, the stronger our country becomes.

Jenny Beth Martin is Honorary Chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action. 

 The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.