23 Governors Say No to Trump’s School Choice Scholarships

The good news is that 27 governors have joined President Donald Trump’s School Choice Scholarships, making available scholarships for millions of kids without impacting public school funding. However, the bad news is 23 governors haven’t and probably won’t opt in, acknowledging they care more about teachers unions than they do about the poor kids stuck in failing schools in their own states.

This initiative aims to give families more affordable education options. But California Democrats aren’t interested. A bill to expand school choice for parents in California was killed in the Senate Education Committee in March.

The Treasury Department and the IRS now allow States to make an Advance Election to participate in the new federal tax credit for individual contributions to Scholarship Granting Organizations under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill. This new credit, established under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, is for contributions to Scholarship Granting Organizations that serve elementary and secondary school students from low- and middle-income families, the IRS reports.

And donors would fund students directly through existing nonprofit scholarship granting organizations, so no new bureaucracy is needed.

President Trump’s Education Freedom Tax Credit supports national education choice, the U.S. Department of Education reports. Using the Education Freedom Tax Credit, taxpayers can receive a credit of up to $1,700 for contributions made to Scholarship Granting Organizations that would otherwise have been owed to the government in Federal income taxes. A tax credit reduces the amount of Federal income tax owed dollar-for-dollar (unlike a deduction, which decreases taxable income). The tax credit is available to any individual who is a citizen or resident of one of the States or the District of Columbia and makes qualified contribution(s) to Scholarship Granting Organizations during the taxable year. Scholarship Granting Organizations then use these funds to provide scholarships to children to attend a school of choice or to access other education-related services and products.

Two more states joined yesterday: New Hampshire and Colorado, Economist Stephen Moore at Unleash Prosperity announced. “Every Republican governor except for Phil Scott of Vermont has opted in. Colorado Governor Jared Polis is the lone Democrat. Governor Glenn Youngkin brought Virginia in before he left office, but his successor, Democrat Abigail Spanberger may try to rescind his action.”

“Amazing that many of the same states and governors that lap up every penny in fraudulent welfare claims, turn their nose up on free federal money to better educate their kids.”

This map shows opt-in states in red, states that have affirmatively opted OUT in blue, and undecided states in gray.

Under the tax credit plan, vouchers would be available to households earning up to 300% of their area’s median income are eligible, and states must opt in, giving governors control over implementation.

Some in opposition to school choice and vouchers claim that many state-based voucher programs don’t require that private schools accept any or all applicants. Schools can reject a student for lots of reasons, including poor grades or a previous record of misbehavior. Or for a disability. “As written, it would not require a private school to admit a student with a disability, nor is it clear what, if any, government entity would enforce the protections the bill hints at, especially since the bill also prohibits any ‘government entity… to mandate, direct, or control any aspect of any private or religious elementary or secondary education institution,'” NPR reported.

But they ignore how many public schools are graduating kids who can’t read or do basic math.

Lance Izumi, Senior Education Director at the Pacific Research Institute, and long time school choice advocate, explains what this means for children stuck in California’s failing schools:

“While it is encouraging that 27 governors have opted into President Trump’s school-choice tax-credit program, it is very concerning that so many governors have not done so, especially in light of the fact that many of these states have dismally poor student performance. Gov. Gavin Newsom has not opted in, despite a majority of California eighth graders failing to meet grade-level English standards and a shocking 70 percent of eighth graders failing to meet grade-level math standards. For Newsom to so far deprive these children with a way out of a failing public school system is absolute cruelty. Fealty to special interest groups must never take precedence over giving children an opportunity for a better education.”

Cory Deangelis breaks down how the tax credit works:

To put the income cap in perspective, consider a family in Los Angeles, where the median household income for a four-person family is around $106,600. Three hundred percent of that amount reaches $319,800. Even solidly middle-class and upper-middle-class families in high-cost areas like Los Angeles qualify.

“Just days before President Donald Trump signed the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ earlier this month, which includes a groundbreaking federal tax credit to help K-12 students access tailored educational resources, Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a $750 million tax credit for Hollywood executives to keep film production in California,” Lance Christensen, vice president of education policy and government affairs for California Policy Center and former candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, wrote at EdSource in August. “While Newsom’s policy prioritizes wealthy filmmakers, the president’s tax credit empowers families nationwide to support their children’s education.”

Christensen says Gov. Newsom and current State Superintendent Tony Thurmond should put their feud with the Trump Administration aside and opt into the federal tax credit program. “They have, after all, been two of the most aggressive opponents of parental rights in education, fighting efforts to make curriculum more transparent, stripping authority from local school boards, and litigating efforts for more meaningful family involvement in the classroom. Their loyalty lies not with students or families, but with the teachers’ unions and education bureaucracies that profit from the status quo.”