A new federal school voucher program established by President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” has several blue state governments and leaders uncertain if they will participate or not.
The federal government will subsidize private school tuition, meaning it will chip in to help cover the cost of a student seeking private education. The government is doing this by providing large tax credits for donations to nonprofits. The measure will go into effect in 2027.
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It will work by allowing taxpayers to make charitable contributions to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations. Donors would receive a full federal tax credit equal to the amount they gave, providing an incentive to donate. Stipends would be given out to the families through the nonprofit organizations, and the funds would be applicable to tuition, textbooks, and homeschooling materials, among other things.
But the program is completely voluntary, leaving it up to state governors and other leaders to decide if it’s a program they want their state to be involved in. Democratic governors are in a tough spot, having to decide whether to accept federal money in support of a program that promotes school choice or turn that money down to maintain their position that more money should be invested in the public school system instead.
Families who make less than three times the median salary in their area are eligible for financial assistance through the program.
Carter Elliott, IV, the senior press secretary for Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), said they are still reviewing the bill and the voucher program.
“We are reviewing the various provisions of the devastating bill passed by the Republican Congress and determining how best to mitigate the negative impacts it will have on working families in Maryland,” said Elliott. “The Governor is committed to ensuring that every student in Maryland has the best education possible. The Trump Administration’s approach to this issue has never been tried before. We are evaluating all of the options to ensure Maryland students have the best opportunities to succeed.”
The Washington Examiner received similar responses from the Governor’s offices in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and Connecticut.
Supporters of the program claim it provides more options for students beyond a public school education. Relying on a single-income firefighter’s salary for a family of 10, North Carolina mother Stephanie Morris told the Washington Examiner that private education for her children would not be possible without vouchers like these.
“We’re able to pick the school that kind of fits our family better and fits the needs of our children better,” said Morris, who has received private school vouchers for five of her children over the past three years through a scholarship program from the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority. “It’s smaller class sizes, teachers are able to go through the material better. Grades have improved for our kids, just the whole school experience has been a better experience.”
Critics claim that investing more money in private education will only detract from the public school system. “It’s a distraction from what really needs to happen,” David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, told the Wall Street Journal. “They use it to cloak their vicious, savage cuts to public education.”
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But refusal to participate would mean turning down federal money, and some Democratic leaders and organizations are voicing their support for participation, such as Democrats for Education Reform. “We believe that choice is the future and it’s really important for Democrats to get on board,” said Jorge Elorza, the group’s CEO, to the Wall Street Journal.
The government will dole out no more than $5 billion in tax credits each year for the program from 2026 to 2029. But the exact cost of the program and how many scholarships it will fund hinges on how much taxpayers are willing to give, and how many states choose to participate. Right now, that remains unclear.