Beginning in January, a new federal scholarship tax credit is projected to generate billions of dollars to expand educational opportunities for students across the country. Roughly 9 out of 10 American students—including the overwhelming majority of those attending public schools—will be eligible to benefit from those dollars.
Last summer, when one of us (Deborah Gist) first heard about the new law, her reaction was similar to that of many public school leaders. It looked like another private school voucher initiative that offered little to the public school students she had spent her career serving. But when she read the statute itself, what she found surprised her. Public school students could be among the primary beneficiaries of this program. The scholarships could fund many of the opportunities she had struggled to sustain as a superintendent—programs like high-impact tutoring, summer learning, career-connected learning, and other out-of-regular-school-day experiences that help students thrive.
We understand why many educators are skeptical of this tax-credit program. There are legitimate debates about how this law will work and the net impact it will have. Critics worry that most scholarship dollars will subsidize private school tuition and that the program will be preyed on by fraudulent actors. And students in the poorest communities may see little benefit if the taxpayers in those communities owe too little in federal taxes to claim the credit since donors often look for their giving to make a difference close to home. But now that the law exists, public educators should consider the opportunities it puts on the table for their students.
Deborah Gist is the founder of Future School Fund, a scholarship-granting organization that intends to exclusively serve students remaining in public school districts and charter schools through the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit. She previously served as Rhode Island’s commissioner of education, as the state superintendent of education for the District of Columbia, and as the superintendent of the Tulsa, Okla., public schools. Thomas Arnett is a senior research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute, where he studies how disruptive innovation reshapes K-12 systems. Arnett advises Future School Fund.