Public education groups are telling Governor Gretchen Whitmer to stay out of the Trump administration’s Education Freedom Tax Credit program.
That program gives up to a $1,700 tax credit to people who donate to certain organizations that provide K-12 school scholarships. The administration says it will foster parental choice and better education outcomes.
“Most American students and families will be eligible to benefit from this transformative program, which will lower costs for parents and families, whether they choose to use these resources to send their child to a new school, pay for private tutoring, or provide other educational supports,” the administration wrote in a fact sheet about the program.
The intended benefits are available to any family whose income is up to 300% of their area’s median income.
But in a letter to Governor Whitmer, public education advocates including school principals, superintendents, and teachers’ unions say it’s a backdoor school voucher scheme. The Michigan Constitution prohibits spending public money on private schools.
The head of the K-12 Education Alliance of Michigan, Robert McCann, said that would violate the Michigan Constitution's prohibition on spending public money on private schools.
“Instead of money going directly to private schools, which would be blocked by Michigan's constitution, it creates a third party that the money goes to first and then ultimately ends up benefiting the private school anyway,” McCann said.
There are two main issues with the program from a public education perspective, said McCann.
The first is that while most K-12 education funding comes from the state, the federal government does directly fund some programs, such as the Title I program for lower-income schools and special education services. This tax credit could reduce that pot of money, and reallocate much of it to private institutions that aren’t required to serve those students.
Some research also suggests that similar programs in other states largely haven’t benefited students in under-resourced schools who could benefit from having other options. Instead, researchers said, it has mostly functioned as a subsidy for wealthier families who already send their children to private school, because the vouchers or scholarships provided aren’t enough to bridge the tuition gap for lower-income families.
Research on whether increased school choice through voucher-style programs has led to better educational outcomes is mixed.
Whitmer has indicated she’s waiting for more federal guidance on program administration before deciding whether to opt Michigan in, but McCann said that shouldn’t matter.
“The specifics aren't going to make up for the fundamental flaw in this program, which is the fact that it is going to harm public schools in Michigan, while benefiting only the wealthy families that are choosing to send their kids to private school already,” he said.
The guidance is expected soon, since the Education Freedom Tax Credit is slated to go into effect at the start of 2027.
