By Molly Macek
The Educational Choice for Children Act, which was introduced earlier this year in the U.S. House and Senate, could bring more educational opportunity to Michigan students. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, defenders of the public school status quo have brought out their long knives in an effort to undermine a policy that has the potential to help families across the state.
This legislation would make scholarships available to middle- and low-income parents that they could spend on private education. These would be funded by donations from individual taxpayers and businesses, who would receive a federal tax credit.
An estimated two million students across the country could benefit from this proposal. The funds could be used for private school tuition, tutoring, books and curriculum materials, dual enrollment at community colleges, online courses, educational therapies for students with disabilities, standardized test fees, or homeschooling expenses.
The proposal awards tax credits worth up to $5,000 to individual taxpayers or up to 5% of the taxable income for businesses if they donate to a scholarship-granting nonprofit. These organizations administer that money and give it to eligible families to offset some of their education costs. The bill establishes the scholarship-granting organizations as independent and prohibits any governments from interfering with them.
This proposal would support parents and students by issuing credits through the federal tax code. This differs from school vouchers, which are issued by governments to a parent or guardian to help pay for a child’s education. This distinction matters, but you wouldn’t know it listening to critics who want to deny parents authority and choice in education.
Josh Cowen, a professor at Michigan State University and self-proclaimed “expert on vouchers,” calls the proposed legislation a “voucher plan” in a Detroit Free Press op-ed. He declares, “Michiganders don’t want school vouchers.” He’s wrong on both counts.
A 2023 survey of Michigan parents conducted by the yes. every kid. foundation revealed strong support for school choice policies. A full 80% of parents favor school choice, with 60% voicing support for vouchers. Another survey performed by EdChoice found similar results. According to its poll, 59% of Michigan adults and 69% of school parents support vouchers.
While Cowen characterizes the federal tax credit plan as a partisan issue, parents on both sides of the political aisle are calling for better educational options for their children. This is especially true in Detroit, where children from disadvantaged backgrounds often have no other option than to attend the local public school, even when it fails them. Many Detroit students attend local charter schools, and many parents in the city would like to homeschool their children or send them to private school. But doing so can be cost-prohibitive.
Why hasn’t Michigan adopted policies like tax credits or vouchers that would give students greater access to the schools of their choice? It’s not because of a lack of parental interest, as Cowen suggests. It’s because of a discriminatory amendment in the state constitution that prevents state funds from being used for private K-12 education.
This so-called Blaine amendment was funded by teachers unions and supported by public schools to block private schools from competing for tax revenue they believe belongs to them. It’s been 55 years since Michigan voters approved that constitutional amendment. More than 80% of the state’s population is too young to have voted on it.
In more recent years, the schooling market has diversified, and education options have expanded to meet parents’ growing demand. In more than 30 states, students now have more options through educational choice programs that have grown significantly over the past few years.
In this context, the Educational Choice for Children Act is the natural progression of expanding school choice in America. Voters of both parties want to provide parents with more school options, especially voters who have school-age children and don’t make a lot of money. Critics like Cowen and other defenders of the public school status quo don’t like these policies, but that’s to be expected.
If passed by Congress, the federal tax credit scholarship would create more opportunity for Michigan parents seeking a better education for their children. If critics believe it’s a bad policy to make it more affordable for middle- and low-income families to afford private schooling, they ought to explain why.
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.
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