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Federal, state and local. 

Historically, those are the three pots of funding districts have relied on to educate America鈥檚 students. One of the nation鈥檚 leading school finance experts says leaders should start planning for a fourth 鈥� the new from the IRS.

Advocates for the program, which Congress passed last year as part of President Donald Trump鈥檚 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, have promoted it as a way to expand for parents who want to leave public schools. But according to Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University鈥檚 Edunomics Lab, district schools could also be big winners.

Under the program, which kicks in next year, taxpayers will get a dollar-for-dollar credit, up to $1,700, if they donate to a scholarship granting organization. Just like an SGO can provide scholarships to private and religious schools, another could direct awards to kids in district schools.

鈥淕iven that 90% of the kids in our country, and their families, have attended public schools,鈥� Roza said during 鈥渢hese SGOs could have 鈥�broader appeal, to the average taxpayer.鈥�

The Treasury Department further confirmed that public school students will be eligible for scholarship funds during a last week with advocates, according to reporting from the New York Times. The agency is still finalizing rules for the program, and states that opt in [] will have to approve a list of SGOs to accept donations. With the vast majority of U.S. K-12 students eligible for the scholarships, a variety of organizations, like the , have already envisioned how the tax credit could support public school kids who need afterschool and summer learning programs. Chad Aldeman, an education analyst and frequent contributor for 社区黑料, , including public school foundations, to become SGOs. 

But some who oppose the program warn that districts shouldn鈥檛 get their hopes up, arguing that the Trump administration鈥檚 ultimate goal is to weaken public schools.

The federal tax credit 鈥渨ill give tax money that should be used on public goods, like public education, to unregulated SGOs to fund mostly private school tuition and other private education expenses,鈥� Jessica Levin, litigation director for the Education Law Center, said during .

She suggested that it鈥檚 unrealistic to expect the administration to make it easy for public school students to benefit from the program 鈥渘ow that they finally achieved their dream of a federal voucher law.鈥� 

Cecilia Retelle Zywicki, founder of LearningSpring, which is building a system for states to track SGOs and payments, attended the closed-door meeting at Treasury last week. While excited about the prospects for helping more students, she urged caution until the administration releases rules for the program later this year.

鈥淭his is big, and represents a lot of opportunity for a lot of people,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut this means the details matter. Compliance and accountability are paramount. It’s exciting, but requires outstanding management and unbiased information.鈥� 

鈥楳aximize those dollars鈥�

Before Congress passed the law that included the new tax credit, organizations supporting public schools worked hard to stop it. In March 2025, Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy for AASA, the School Superintendents Association, the 鈥済reatest threat to public education we鈥檝e ever had at the federal level.鈥� She noted how private schools accepting scholarships would be able to discriminate in admissions based on students鈥� religion, disabilities or academic performance.

But the potential for public school kids to benefit is one reason Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, opted into the program. Gov. Kathy Hochul in New York and Gov. Josh Stein in North Carolina, also Democrats, plan to participate as well. 

Scott Smith, chief financial and operating officer in the Cherry Creek district, southeast of Denver, is among those who have been skeptical that the tax credit will be a windfall for public schools. 

鈥淭his administration has shown that it doesn’t support traditional public education,鈥� he said. But he鈥檚 still hopeful, and said across the district鈥檚 70 schools, there is uneven access to opportunities like summer camps and afterschool enrichment. 鈥淚f the rules get written in such a way that allow public schools to benefit, we will most certainly do everything we can to maximize those dollars and invest them into the students who need them the most.鈥� 

The tax credit will pay for a broad range of , including supplies, fees, field trips, uniforms and digital devices 鈥� a lot of the items that public education foundations already provide to supplement district budgets across the country, said Mike Taylor, CEO of the National Association of Education Foundations. 

Many public school districts currently charge tuition for students who live outside of their boundaries. A district, Taylor said, could accept more of those students through scholarships. 

There has been 鈥渁 sea change鈥� in attitudes toward the program, he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 happening, and we鈥檙e going to make sure we take advantage of this.鈥�

Even Josh Cowen, one of the nation鈥檚 most outspoken voucher critics, , 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to squeeze every dollar out of the new federal scholarship tax credit for public school families.鈥� 

He urged nonprofits to learn from the well-established SGOs supporting private schools and said he wouldn鈥檛 鈥溾�� public school supporters if they need guidance on how to use this new 鈥渞evenue stream.鈥� 

At least one group, which worked to expand internet access in schools and students鈥� homes, has already reinvented itself as an SGO. plans to deliver scholarships for high-quality literacy tutoring to kids nationwide who enter first grade off track in reading. 

鈥淭his is the pathway to take tutoring to scale in public school,鈥� said Evan Marwell, the organization鈥檚 founder and CEO. The challenge is getting taxpayers without kids in public schools to donate, but he thinks he has the right approach. 鈥淎 message of 鈥楢merica has a reading crisis, this is our way to fix it and here’s the evidence that shows it works鈥� is going to be incredibly compelling.鈥� 

After the legislation passed, he began meeting with governors in both red and blue states to encourage them to add his organization to their approved SGO lists. He said it was clear they all care about improving literacy, but existing states and districts can鈥檛 afford to provide tutoring to all the students who need it. 

Roza described a more expansive scenario in which a district would set a price on a 鈥渂undled set of enhanced services鈥� for every student, not just those with specific needs.

That bundle, funded by an SGO, might include field trips, a robotics lab or special assemblies 鈥� offerings that go above and beyond the basic education that schools are legally required to provide. She doesn鈥檛 think it would be hard for district leaders to convince local taxpayers to donate to an SGO that would direct scholarships to students in a specific district. 

“Donating a portion of your federal taxes to our SGO helps us go beyond the bare minimum to better serve our students,鈥� is one pitch a school board might make to the community, she said.

鈥楩inancial gaps鈥�

Levin, with the Education Law Center, slammed the idea and said it鈥檚 wrong for districts to start charging parents for things that they don鈥檛 already pay for. The logistics of offering such a 鈥減remium package,鈥� she added, would be difficult for districts to manage. 

鈥淭here are way too many variables for public schools to try to control,鈥� she said, including the SGO raising enough every year to cover all students and ensuring parents apply for the scholarships.

Others wonder if district-focused SGOs would attract major donations in some communities, but not others 鈥� similar to cases in which PTAs in wealthier districts can collect enough donations for facility upgrades and while others can only raise enough for small grants to fund teachers or field trips.

鈥淭axpayers are most likely to fund an SGO that directly benefits their own school district,鈥� said Katie Roy, executive director of the . An acronym for Strategic Public Education National Data, the new effort aims to preserve and collect education finance information after the many large surveys. 鈥淭he benefits of these tax credits 鈥� and the resulting funding 鈥� are poised to flow primarily toward more affluent school districts, potentially widening existing financial gaps between schools.鈥�

To take advantage of the full $1,700 credit on their income taxes, a donor must have that much to contribute to an SGO each year. In lower-income communities, many residents don鈥檛 earn enough to .

But the extent to which an SGO can narrow its scholarship eligibility to students in specific schools or districts will depend on the rules the Treasury Department sets for the program, said Kristin Blagg, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute, a left-learning think tank. 

鈥淔or those seeking to develop an SGO, I’d imagine it’s difficult to plan for the future without knowing what those federal regulatory guardrails are,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd what additional guardrails, if any, a host state may be able to impose.鈥�

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