The Education Tax Credit Play: Who Really Benefits When Billionaires Fund Schools?

Glenn Youngkin just launched a new push for something that sounds good on the surface: an Education Freedom Tax Credit that lets people donate up to $1,700 to scholarship organizations and get a federal tax break in return. According to CBS News, the program officially launches in January 2027 and has already been adopted in 30 states. Youngkin's group plans to spend millions advertising it in 20 states that haven't yet adopted it, targeting key battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona.

The pitch is straightforward: school choice, more scholarships, parents get options. It sounds like empowerment. But dig into how these programs actually work, and you hit a problem that runs through the whole design.

The Real Cost of Tax Credits for Schools

Here's what matters: when you give a federal tax credit, you're giving up revenue that could fund the public schools serving 50 million kids. The money doesn't materialize from nowhere. It comes out of the federal budget.

These credits overwhelmingly benefit families who already have money. Someone making $200,000 a year can afford the upfront cost of private school tuition and then claim the credit to recover $1,700. A family making $50,000 can't. Research on similar programs shows that scholarship tax credits in other states have disproportionately benefited higher-income families, while public school funding stagnates in the communities that need it most.

And here's the harder part: the families left behind go to public schools. Those schools already struggle with underfunding. When we divert resources through tax credits, we're essentially telling the public system, the one serving kids whose parents can't navigate private school applications, that their schools matter less.

Why This Matters Now

Youngkin's push comes at a moment when public schools are reeling. Teacher pay hasn't kept up with inflation. School buildings need repairs. And families in working-class communities are being priced out of neighborhoods with good schools, which creates a vicious cycle. Kids in zip codes with lower property tax bases get worse-funded schools. Their parents can't afford private alternatives or to move. And now we're offering tax credits that make it easier for families with means to opt out entirely.

The Common Good Party's education policy starts from a different place: every child deserves a great public school. Not because we're against choice or against families finding the right fit. Because a country this wealthy has no excuse for a two-tier system where your school's quality depends on your zip code or your parents' income.

What Tax Policy Actually Should Do

The tax code has been rewritten loophole by loophole to serve those who already have advantages. We need a tax system that asks the most of those who have the most, and uses that revenue to fund the public goods that everyone depends on, especially public education.

That doesn't mean no private schools. It means we don't use the federal tax code to subsidize escape routes from shared public systems. It means we fund our public schools the way we claim to value them.