On Friday, I was on my way to pick up my son from school when my phone started blowing up with messages and calls: Governor Hochul had announced that NY was officially opting into the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program!
It is hard to overstate the importance of this! It will be the first time NY families have direct control over some resources to shape their kids’ education. Depending on how many taxpayers donate, it could be more than $1 billion. That is still a small fraction of the $40 billion state education budget, but it is a start. Hopefully, at some point NY will join the more than 30 states that let families decide how to spend a bigger part of the education budget.
If you want to know more about this decision, read my article on City Journal.
What impact will the federal tax credit have?
This is an interesting debate at the Harvard 2026 Emerging School Models Conference between Kim Anderson (National Education Association), Derrell Bradford (50CAN), and Greg Nadeau (Ed3).
What I am reading
No, Your Kid Probably Doesn’t Need Extra Time on Tests (The Free Press)
D.C. Schools May Soon Have a Big Problem: Fewer Kids (The Washington Sun)
Margaret Spellings and Arne Duncan: The Ed. Agenda We Can Agree On (Education Week)
Make the Governor Responsible for New York’s Schools (Vital City)
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Contact me if you want to help bring universal education choice to NY! #SchoolChoiceNY
