The national Educational Choice for Children Act, tucked into the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Congress passed last summer, is bad news for public education — and New York must not opt in.

Under the program, taxpayers in participating states would qualify for dollar-for-dollar federal tax credits of up to $1,700 for money they contribute to scholarship programs that fund private schools.

Set to take effect in 2027, the law funnels taxpayer dollars to private and religious schools. This drains funds from public schools, which educate 90% of American children and are already underfunded.

Discrimination is also a real risk: Private schools can pick and choose whom to admit. Children with disabilities, English language learners and students from LGBTQ+ families could easily be excluded.

The law lacks oversight. There are no meaningful accountability measures for how taxpayer-funded scholarships are used or for tracking student outcomes.

Beyond that, data from other states show the ballooning costs of private and religious school programs. This further drains state coffers and, by extension, needed support for public education.

Public schools serve everyone and safeguard civil rights — and that’s exactly how it should be. Families have every right to educate their children as they see fit, but taxpayer dollars should not be used to defund public schools to subsidize private ones.