Educators for Excellence Statement on federal tax-credit scholarship plan

Evan Stone, Co-Founder and CEO of Educators for Excellence, issued the following statement in response to draft tax legislation that includes a federal tax-credit scholarship plan proposed initially in the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA):

“President Trump’s tax-credit scholarship plan—proposed on the heels of catastrophic cuts outlined in his skinny budget—would siphon billions of dollars away from public schools and funnel them into private schools with no governmental oversight or accountability. By channeling money to schools that have no obligation to follow federal education laws like IDEA, it gambles with and eliminates transparency around the success of our special education students, specifically, and vulnerable students more broadly. It will also underserve students in rural areas, where private schools are less accessible. 

This shift will also disproportionately benefit families who can already afford to send their students to private school without the help of a scholarship, as wealthy families are more likely to know about and take advantage of such programs. It will do nothing for students whose families cannot afford to pay the inevitable outstanding tuition bill after a scholarship is applied. It will instead undermine the success of such students by diverting resources from the public schools they already attend. 

This bill stands in contrast to what educators want. Only 16% of teachers nationwide support using federal funds for secular private schools, and only 12% support public funding for religious private schools. While the Trump administration seemingly has no problem defying teachers’ expertise, the rest of us should ask: Who exactly is this administration listening to? Actions like this make clear it certainly isn’t America’s educators, parents, or students.”

The data in this quote is from the 2025 Voices from the Classroom survey. 

Evan Stone is available for comment to discuss this matter further.

Evan Stone

Evan Stone is the Co-Founder and CEO of Educators for Excellence.