The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) is urging state officials to avoid a federal school voucher program, arguing its model is weighted to most benefit private schools to the detriment of public education.
The program — part of the so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill' passed by Congress last summer — doesn't provide any federal money for education. Instead, states that opt in manage a number of 'Scholarship Granting Organizations,' or SGOs. SGOs primarily run off of private donations, and people who donate to those groups would receive a federal tax credit up to $1,700 dollars.
SGOs can keep 10% of any donations they receive, and can choose to focus on public or private schooling. Neither the federal government nor state officials would have any say in who receives vouchers from these organizations, according to Anthony Clough with MassBudget.
"Private organizations are the ones administering the program," Clough said. "If Massachusetts opts in, there's likely going to be two general types of SGOs: ones that focus on those private school costs and then academic enrichment focused ones that will benefit public school families. And the private school SGOs have established fundraising infrastructure."
Clough said private school-focused SGOs would have the advantage of an already-established donor network, and generally wealthier donor base primed to funnel money into the private sector. He said SGOs focused on public schooling likely wouldn't have the same benefits.
"We're experiencing an affordability crisis in Massachusetts," Clough said. "You're just not going to have the same number of people [in public education] who feel comfortable giving their disposable income just to get a tax credit later, when a lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck."
The biggest red flag of the program, according to Clough, is the income cap for eligibility. Vouchers from SGOs would be available for families who make 3x the annual median income (AMI) for their area. For example — a family in Springfield making up to $290,000 would be eligible for a voucher, when the median income for the area is around $97,000.
"In housing policy, we give out public benefits to families that make 30%, 60% or 80% AMI," Clough said. "But this is going to allow higher income families to crowd out anybody who applies that might be from a historically disadvantaged family. And that's really not an equitable policy."
The program also demands some state resources, even if state officials aren't the ones determining who gets the vouchers. If Massachusetts opts in, it would need to identify and compile a list of SGOs to send to the IRS to inform the federal tax credit. The state would also be responsible for ensuring SGOs remain in compliance with aspects of the program — like providing vouchers to at least 10 students who don't all go to the same school.
Clough positioned the program as a piece of the broader effort by the Trump administration to back off of publicly-funded education. The administration has been working to dismantle the federal Department of Education, offloading many of its responsibilities to other agencies. At the start of his second term, Trump moved to freeze billions of dollars in Title IV funds to public schools — though that freeze was lifted after states pursued legal action.
The federal school voucher program, and the ways it benefits private schooling, pushes states to fall in line with the Trump administration's educational priorities, Clough said.
"Instead of low income students, English learners and students with disabilities getting public funds, getting resources directly through their schools, they [would] have to compete with their high income peers for a voucher just to replace the same services that are being cut in their public schools," Clough said. "It's just totally inequitable."