What Is In The Federal School Voucher Bill
From Forbes.com
The Educational Choice for Children Act of 2024, introduced by Representative Adrian Smith (R-NE-3), would create school vouchers on the federal level, and as with all voucher programs, the devil is in the details. What do we find when we take a look under the hood?
So far in the U.S., school vouchers have been made policy on the state level. Federal vouchers have been proposed before. Betsy DeVos, a long time voucher supporter, tried pushing a federal voucher program during her tenure as Donald Trump’s education secretary. ECCA is similar to her proposal.
How will it be funded?
ECCA proposes a tax credit scholarship funding method. That means that those wishing to take advantage of the program would give money to a scholarship granting organization (SGO), which would in turn administer and grant the voucher funds to eligible students. The taxpayer’s contribution to the SGO would count as a dollar-for-dollar tax credit against their federal taxes for that year.
The taxpayer is allowed to put a maximum of either $5,000 or 10% of their adjusted gross income (whichever is greater) into the SGO.
Who is eligible for the voucher?
Students would be eligible for the voucher if they are members of a household “with an income which is not greater that 300 percent of the area median gross income.” Real median household income in 2023 for the country was $80,610, but AMGI would presumably use gross incomes rather than net, and would be tied to a particular area, meaning that the wealthier the “area,” the higher the eligibility cap. (Rep. Smith’s office has not yet responded to a request for further clarification).
This is infuriating. Vouchers aren’t just screwing over public education—they’re gutting it. Public schools, already gasping for air with teacher shortages and underfunding, now have to compete for talent in a rigged game where taxpayer dollars are being funneled into private religious institutions. And let’s not sugarcoat it: these schools aren’t open to everyone. They’ve got discriminatory policies baked into their handbooks, funded by public money, while public schools are left to do the heavy lifting of educating *every* kid who walks through their doors.
This isn’t about choice—it’s about dismantling public education under the guise of “freedom” and letting taxpayers foot the damn bill for exclusionary practices. Public schools are hemorrhaging resources and losing their ability to hire and retain quality teachers because the system is being stacked against them. If we keep this up, the future of equitable, accessible education is toast, and it’ll be on all of us for letting this happen. Rant over.
This is what STOs do in Arizona. AND, next comes ESAs for all. This is the foot in the door move. Federal over reach pushed by the Conservative Caucus as the local voters always vote NO on vouchers by a 2 to one majority. Barry Goldwater would NOT approve of this.