Most Democratic governors, caught between teachers unions and a coalition of faith-based schools and political organizations, have yet to opt in or out of a tax credit included in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025.
The federal tax program encourages individuals to donate to scholarship-granting organizations that support education by paying for private school tuition, after-school programs, test preparation and tutoring. Donors in participating states can begin claiming the credit in January.
Pro-school choice groups insist the program will benefit both public and private schools, but AFT President Randi Weingarten and other union leaders have denounced the tax credit as a “Trojan horse” and thinly veiled voucher program.
The credit may provide “some crumbs for public school kids,” said Melinda Person, president of NYSUT, the UFT’s state affiliate. “But the biggest winners we believe will be those that are trying to privatize public education.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said in May she intended to opt in to allowing New Yorkers to get the credit. The UFT, NYSUT and the AFT are part of a coalition of educational, community and advocacy groups seeking to convince Hochul that she should not. According to the IRS, about 30 mostly Republican states have chosen to participate.
Politico, Aug. 1
Chalkbeat, May 8