Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today unveiled a proposal for Education Freedom Scholarships that supporters are calling “bold and innovative.”
“A great education shouldn’t be determined by luck or by address or by family income … the biggest winners will be America’s forgotten children who will finally have choices previously available only for the rich, the powerful, and the well-connected,” the secretary said while unveiling the program this morning.
Educational choice supporters Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and and Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., plan to introduce the legislation into Congress, which will be a $5 billion investment in America’s students.
The scholarship will be funded by charitable contributions from donors, who in turn receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit when they contribute to state nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations.
Families that receive a scholarship can use it for their students’ elementary or secondary education, or for a student’s career and technical education. The scholarship has the potential to expand access to advanced or elective courses, private school, tutoring, summer programs, and more.
States must opt-in to participate, though none are required to do so. This program is intentionally structured to maintain local control of schooling — SGO structure, who is eligible, what qualifies as an education provider, and educational expense are all decided by individual states.
John Schilling, president of the American Federation for children, said in a statement that “there is no greater form of local control in education than empowering families to choose the best K-12 educational option for their children. The Education Freedom Scholarships bill is a major step forward in empowering families with greater educational choice and ultimately greater economic benefit for students.”
Calling upon lawmakers to reach across the aisle, Schilling concluded: “This legislation is an unprecedented opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to come together in support of expanding educational opportunity for America’s families and students.”
Kate Hardiman is a contributor to Red Alert Politics. She is pursuing a master’s in education from Notre Dame University and teaches English and religion at a high school in Chicago.
