Treasury releases rules for nation’s first federal school voucher program
The Trump administration took a major step Thursday toward launching the nation’s first federally funded school voucher program, set to steer billions of tax dollars to private schools — but also, perhaps, to public school students.
The Treasury Department released long-awaited rules that will govern the first-of-its-kind effort before it’s implemented in January. States must decide whether to participate, and many Democratic governors had said they would wait for the regulations before making a decision.
It’s a tricky call. Most of these governors oppose voucher programs, which direct public money to private schools. But in this case, the program is funded entirely with federal money, so if they don’t participate, they will be passing up an opportunity to funnel additional dollars into their states’ public schools.
The voucher-like program, called the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, was created by last year’s giant Republican tax and spending bill. It provides a 100 percent tax credit for donations to scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs), which will pass along the money to families. It was designed to primarily benefit students attending private schools, but SGOs may also be set up to help pay out-of-pocket expenses for public school students, further complicating the politics for Democrats.
Governors have until Jan. 1 to opt in. Thirty mostly Republican-led states have already joined. Most of the remaining states that have not rejected the plan are led by Democrats.
The proposed regulations include income limits for eligible families, protections for scholarship funds, and details on how the funds can be used. States cannot restrict the types of schools that benefit, Treasury and Education department officials said, meaning public funds could go toward a religious school that bars LGBTQ students or a private school that doesn’t have certified teachers.
There will be a 60-day public comment period on the proposed rules.
