Can Public Schools Convert Federal Vouchers Into Revenue Streams?

Résumé détaillé

EFTC’s design favors private schools, and using these vouchers to support public schools looks like a difficult stretch.

The GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill includes a provision for federal school vouchers, set to go into effect in 2027. The law allows individuals to redirect $1,700 of their federal tax liability to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) who can then award the money (minus their handling fee) to families.

One of the arguments being used to pressure those governors to join in is the notion that the President Trump's Education Freedom Tax Credits could be used to create new revenue streams for public schools. Some public school educators are not so sure.

Marguerite Roza, of Georgetown University's Edunomics Lab, has argued that public schools could benefit several ways. In one example, she argues that schools could bundle "extras" such as "field trips, devices, AP classes, full day K, assemblies, clubs, drop-in math office hour, orientations, electives, in-school tutoring, mental health, etc." Schools, she says, could offer a "basic" program or a "K12 Plus Plan" for students.

Unlike private schools, public schools cannot charge families for the regular education programs that are their entire public purpose. To take advantage of the federal vouchers, a public school district would have to open up new program charges. And that presents a whole new set of challenges.

Jack Silva recently retired from the position of superintendent of the Bethlehem Area School District in Pennsylvania, and he has tried to set up extra revenue streams in the past. He told me that it did not go well.

Back in 2009-10, Governor Ed Rendell used money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to cover massive cuts to education in the state; Governor Tom Corbett took over in 2011 just as ARRA funds ran out, and his opponents blasted him for cutting billions from the education budget, even as he insisted that he had increased education spending (but not to pre-2009 levels) and made things look better by including required pension funding as part of education spending.

But the bottom line for…

Silva…

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