Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) demonstrated political leadership in a time when it is scarce by announcing her intentions to opt New York into the new federal school choice tax credit.
With one decision, she has possibly empowered families and taxpayers in her state and provided a blueprint for other Democratic governors to follow.
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Beginning in the 2027 tax year, the FTCS will provide taxpayers with a nonrefundable federal income tax credit of up to $1,700 per year for qualified donations to scholarship-granting organizations. Those donations will fund K-12 scholarships, helping cover expenses such as tuition, tutoring, and supplies. All children whose families fall below 300% of their area’s median income are eligible, including those privately educated and those in public schools.
GOVERNORS SHOULD OPT INTO TRUMP SCHOOL CHOICE TAX CREDIT TO COMPLEMENT STATE PROGRAMS
About 64% of voters across demographic groups support the FTCS, according to polling released last September by Democrats for Education Reform. Democrats, Republicans, Hispanic and black voters, college graduates, and non-college graduates alike support their respective governors opting in at rates of 60% or higher. New polling from EdChoice reinforces this inclination, finding that 72% of school parents approve of the FTCS, and 64% of Democrats are in favor. Even 67% of the party’s furthest left flank, self-identified progressives, support it.
At first glance, strong Democratic voter support for school choice might seem to put elected Democratic officials in a difficult position. After all, the Democratic Party’s 2024 platform explicitly opposed “the use of private-school vouchers, tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, and other schemes that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education.”
But as Hochul demonstrated, the program is not a threat but an opportunity.
Parents do not see their child’s education as a political issue. They care about what works. If a program helps their child access better educational resources and succeed, they will support it. This is the lens policymakers should use when deciding whether their state should participate in the federal tax credit.
Hochul’s decision echoes that of the first Democratic governor to opt in, Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO), who said it “would be crazy not to.” Contrast that with Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY), who vetoed a bill that would have opted in his state — a veto promptly overridden by the Kentucky legislature. Beshear’s stance puts him in step with outgoing Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI), who also vetoed legislation for his state to participate in the FTCS.
Both of the latter governors are squarely at odds with their party’s own voters, who actually support school choice.
Support among Democrats for Education Savings Accounts — a type of school choice that allows families to use scholarship funds to pay for goods beyond just tuition, such as tutoring, therapies, and other private educational expenses — has not dipped below 70% since 2017, according to EdChoice’s Schooling in America Survey.
In addition to being unpopular, not joining the program is fiscally irresponsible.
States could lose out on millions of dollars in K-12 funding because taxpayers are not restricted to giving only to SGOs in their state, according to Democrats for Education Reform. States that plan not to opt in get hit twice: Their students can’t access additional educational opportunities, and their own taxpayers are investing in other states.
The federal tax credit costs participating states nothing. Why would any governor choose to export generous financial contributions from in-state donors to fund educational options for children in other states?
The majority of Democratic governors still haven’t decided whether to opt in. But they would be wise to allow families and K-12 students in their states to access education benefits funded voluntarily by generous donors. They should dismiss those who seek to block this benefit with political rhetoric. Educational opportunity for students should never be a political football. Opting in is both the politically prudent choice and the morally clear one.
Polis and Hochul get it. Every other governor, Democratic or Republican, who wants their party to lead on education in 2026 and beyond should learn from their leadership.
Cooper Conway is a state policy director at EdChoice, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to advance educational freedom and choice for all students as a pathway to successful lives and a stronger society. Follow him on X @CooperConway1.
