Cecilia Retelle Zywicki

Who's ready for the Federal Education Tax Credit?

Thirty states have opted to participate. Lots of others are still holding back.

LearningSpring is ready either way because taxpayers in states that don't opt in this cycle aren't trapped by that choice.

Any eligible U.S. taxpayer, no matter where they live, can contribute to a qualifying Scholarship Granting Organization in any participating state and claim a federal tax credit of up to $1,700.

Even if your state sits this out, YOU don't have to.

You can support an SGO serving a community, region, student population, or educational priority that matters to you outside your home state.

The credit reduces taxes owed dollar for dollar. You are essentially redirecting money you would otherwise pay in federal taxes toward K-12 scholarships.

Taxpayers get a tax-neutral way to direct existing liability. Education advocates get more scholarship funding for students.

States are still assembling their SGO lists. January is approaching fast!

The Education Freedom Tax Credit is an exciting policy with huge potential for school districts.

My piece in District Administration just went live: “3 ways districts can benefit from the Education Freedom Tax Credit.”

The piece outlines three actions district leaders can take now to be in "pole position" when the program begins.

From January 2027 onwards, taxpayers will be able to receive a federal credit of up to $1,700 for their qualifying donations to Scholarship Granting Organizations.

In the states that take part, those funds may support tutoring, services for students with disabilities, after-school programs, and other eligible K–12 expenses.

Nothing is taken from public school funding. The credit ADDS a huge new source of education dollars - guided by taxpayers and parents in local communities.

This creates an immense opportunity for districts to help public-school families access powerful, effective resources.

Link to the article in the comments!

The work to prepare for the Education Freedom Tax Credit is already underway.

There's not enough time to start from scratch anymore.

The Federal Education Tax Credit will begin on January 1, 2027, and it will enable taxpayers to send up to $1,700 to approved Scholarship Granting Organizations.

Thirty states have opted in, but opting in is only the start.

Before contributions become scholarships, states must identify qualified SGOs and submit approved lists to the IRS. They also need systems for donor pipelines, family applications, provider networks, eligibility verification, payments, reporting, and compliance.

We aren't dealing with a small program that just needs a few forms and a portal. This is an enormous new education funding stream, involving thousands of organizations, millions of families, and complex financial activity across states.

Infrastructure at that scale takes time to design, test, connect, and build correctly.

As opportunity grows, the challenge of implementation grows too. More opportunity attracts more bad actors, so we need anti-fraud controls, anti-duplication checks, anti-self-dealing safeguards, and anti-waste systems.

Once the program is launched, states can't just throw something together; they need systems capable of operating at scale from the very first day.

Big moments require big infrastructure, and it takes a long time to build big infrastructure right.

School choice is often a preference, but for many families, a more accurate term is necessity.

Pluralism accommodates preferences related to educational philosophy, cultural background, scheduling needs, and teaching style.

These factors are individually significant and collectively more than justify support for school choice.

But the NECESSARY element of the school choice argument is where things get really crucial.

In 2025, 75% of U.S. parents considered, searched for, or enrolled a child in a different school, representing the highest proportion recorded in the past five years.

Families may seek a safer environment, as 19% of students report being bullied at school. Others may require individualized instruction or specialized support.

These kinds of "preferences" get life-changing fast.

School choice programs can be structured to address need. For example, Oklahoma provides up to $7,500 for lower-income families, compared to $5,000 for higher-income families.

The outcomes matter, too. Ohio EdChoice scholarship recipients were 32% more likely to enroll in college than comparable students who remained in public schools, with particularly strong results for lower-income families.

Why should meaningful choice belong only to those who can already afford it?

As a working mom, I don't have such a thing as empty space in my day. I have priorities that move from "𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵" to "𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵."

I don't have hours to spend on school tours, figuring out convoluted enrollment systems, searching for outdated PDFs to determine whether my children qualify, which applications I need to complete... and so on.

Signing up for summer camp is enough of an undertaking to last a lifetime. IYKYK.

The whole difficult process of switching my own daughter's school inspired LearningSpring.

Families should be able to discover their options, understand eligibility, apply, access scholarships, and manage education expenses without an over-complicated, outdated, scattered process that doesn't even work well for parents with time to navigate it.

LearningSpring brings school discovery, applications, eligibility, funding, and payments into one connected experience. Behind that parent experience, it also gives states, schools, SGOs, and providers the infrastructure they need to run these programs with clarity and accountability.

That matters even more as the Education Freedom Tax Credit approaches in 2027.

This program will create an extraordinary new source of scholarship funding. But beyond compliance challenges, families must be able to find the opportunity, understand it, apply for it, and use it without taking on another part-time job.

I know I speak for all parents when I say we don't need any more complicated junk to eat up our time.

A good experience with these systems is one that works so well we don't even have to think about it.

Flash floods aren't dangerous because of the water itself; they're dangerous because an enormous volume of water arrives faster than the system can absorb it.

That is the implementation challenge states face with the Education Freedom Tax Credit.

Beginning in 2027, individual taxpayers can direct up to $1,700 to approved Scholarship Granting Organizations. The U.S. Department of Education estimates the credit could generate up to $24 billion in new education funding every year, depending on state participation and taxpayer uptake.

Every $1 billion could fund tuition for roughly 77,000 students or tutoring for more than 300,000.

That is an extraordinary opportunity.

It is also a potential day-one explosion of fraud, unmet demands, duplicated profiles, confusion, and inability to provide a comprehensive experience for taxpayers - a component which will be essential to the credit's success or failure.

The flood is coming.

States need infrastructure that can absorb demand, detect fraud, and guide families clearly.

There are 157 days left in the year.

That means 157 days, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 weekends, to be fully prepared for the Education Freedom Tax Credit.

Some states are deep into preparation. Others haven't even started.

Beginning January 1, 2027, potentially billions of new scholarship dollars will flow through participating states.

Every one of them now needs the infrastructure to handle the scale of this program.

This may be the greatest opportunity in decades to put substantial new funding thoughtfully and directly into education.

Without the right systems, it could become a mess of backlogs, fraud, waste, confused families, unpaid providers, and unusable scholarship dollars.

The states that prepare now can turn an enormous new funding stream into a massive boost for education satisfaction, affordability, and outcomes.

Too many families of children with disabilities are stuck waiting for evaluations, therapies, specialized instruction, and other essential support.

The new, substantial funding source from the Federal Education Tax Credit, also called the Education Freedom Tax Credit, will help approved scholarship organizations close this gap.

Scholarships may also cover services such as diagnostic evaluations, ongoing therapy, assistive technology, and specialized education.

That can help families access:

- Private specialists when school-based services are not enough
- Schools with stronger inclusion or special education programs
- Evidence-based interventions that would otherwise be out of reach

We've seen time and time again how the right support can change everything.

Anyone with federal tax liability can help fund that support without paying more than they already owe.

I prefer dark chocolate.

My husband has a chocolate allergy, and one of my daughters has an expander so she can't have chewy things.

We're one family but very different people. Not everyone wants, needs, or can have the same things.

Education works the same way.

Children learn differently, need different support, and thrive in different environments. Education pluralism is the acknowledgment of a simple truth: one system, one model, and one definition of a good education will never fit every child.

Do you live in a state that hasn't opted into the Education Freedom Tax Credit yet - but have friends or family, or an affection for a state that has?

Even if your state doesn't opt in, you can redirect up to $1,700 of your federal income tax into K-12 scholarships.

And you can still make sure communities you care about benefit from those dollars.

Maybe you have a sister with kids in Mississippi, or grandkids in North Carolina, or little cousins in Florida ... and so on.

Those states have all opted in. While you can't directly earmark funds for specific children, you can support SGOs that serve their area and help improve K-12 education overall.

Time isn't up on opting in, but it is moving fast. Even if you live in a state that's signaled disinterest, you can make sure your federal tax dollars go to a cause you care about.