The teachers unions are positively against it. Annoy them for free.
Here’s some good news, and it comes from an odd place: The tax code.
Starting in 2027, there’s a new federal tax credit for giving to a scholarship fund that helps kids escape inferior schools. Give up to $1,700, get $1,700 back – dollar for dollar. Married? Treasury just issued temporary & proposed regulations that treat each spouse as a separate person – even on a joint return – so a couple can give $3,400 and knock $3,400 off their tax bill. Every year.
This is not a deduction. It’s a full tax credit. Give $1,700, owe $1,700 less in taxes. Net cost to you: zero. If you cannot use the entire credit in 2027, the unused portion carries forward five more years. It isn’t a “refundable” credit – you need to show tax due (before accounting for withholding & estimated payments, which is good) to use the credit. Most people reading this pay some tax.
Where Does the Money Go?
To nonprofit scholarship granting organizations, aka SGOs, which must meet requirements written into the tax statute. The SGO’s fund scholarships so families may choose where, what, and how their children learn.
“School choice” doesn’t automatically mean private school. It might mean a better public school. Some of these funds may pay for tutoring, after-school help & the like for kids who stay in public school. But yes, a lot of this money will flow to private schools. That’s why the teachers unions hate it – it shall put cracks in their abusive monopoly. Just another reason to love it!
Why I Care
Our public schools are obsolete – at best. They keep graduating kids who can’t do basic math and can’t read well, but who are extremely well versed in the “correct” ideologically (to put it politely). The results have been pretty clear to anyone who interacts with the results. It’s wrong. It’s dangerous. We can help change it – at no extra cost.
When it comes to schools call me pro-choice.
Where It Stands
This credit was born of the Trump 2.0 tax bill (new Code §25F). States have to opt in. Thirty have done so and are setting up the nonprofits. Most have Republican governors. Three have Democratic governors who vetoed it – and their Republican legislatures overrode the vetoes. The Treasury regs are temporary & proposed for now; hopefully they shall be finalized as written. The twenty States not taking the free federal money for school choice all have Democratic governors. That’s both awful (for the kids in those States) and fine (you may contribute to a non-profit in another State and get the same federal tax credit).
Fine print, short version:
- The credit is reduced by any state tax credit you get for the same gift. No double-dipping. I don’t see why a State would provide such a credit if the Feds are willing to cover the whole bill, so this point shall probably be moot.
- The SGO must be on a participating State’s list. Check before cutting the check.
- You need not itemize to take the credit. You may itemize or take the Standard Deduction and take the credit either way.
Bottom line: if you think the schools are failing and you want students & parents to be able to choose a better future, this costs you nothing. $1,700 each, $3,400 for a couple, every year, paid with tax dollars you were sending to Washington anyway.
I’ll remind you again in 2027. Just thought I’d share the happy news now.
Hyre
