For parents, it is expensive to educate a child, and this is true regardless of the schools their children attend.
Addressing a child’s individual learning needs may present additional financial considerations for parents, including those who send their children to public schools. These additional, but necessary, support services become out-of-pocket expenses for parents to ensure their children have the help they need.
For some children, it could mean tutoring in a particular subject. It may involve investing in the appropriate technology to complete assignments. Or it could be additional support services for children with special learning needs. Parents of both public and nonpublic schoolchildren may incur these additional education expenses, and the latter group also typically pay for expenses such as tuition.
But help may be on the horizon. Michigan families could soon apply for and receive funding to pay for these out-of-pocket education expenses under a federal education tax credit program.
Here is how it would work: Beginning in 2027, any taxpayer could donate to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs) and receive a credit on their federal taxes. The SGO would then use the donations to distribute assistance to families to pay for out-of-pocket education expenses, such as those mentioned above.
Families of children who attend both public and nonpublic schools would be eligible to apply for and receive assistance from the SGOs. Families earning up to 300% of their community’s median household income would qualify, ensuring many children who need assistance are covered.
It is worth pointing out that the federal tax credit opens new revenue streams for education in Michigan, without raising taxes or diverting existing funding that benefit Michigan schools.
The opportunity to form a nonprofit SGO to collect donations and distribute funding is open to all. For instance, residents of a local community could start an SGO to assist students who attend the local public school system. A regional group of nonpublic schools could come together to create an SGO to do the same.
However, the state of Michigan must formally opt into the program for families and students to benefit.
If not, Michigan taxpayers could still donate to SGOs and earn the tax credit, but they would be sending their donations to help students attending schools outside of Michigan. Until Michigan opts in, Michigan-based SGOs could not form, and Michigan families would not benefit.
The federal education tax credit provides an incredible opportunity to help families across Michigan afford their out-of-pocket education expenses. It would ensure more children have access to the resources they need to meet their individual learning needs.
As a result of the tax credit program, schools across Michigan will benefit from the additional investment into students’ education. Every dollar donated to an SGO and distributed to a student is an additional dollar spent on education, supplementing the billions in existing state aid for schools.
All that is needed to put this policy in motion is for the state of Michigan to tell the federal government it wants to participate. If Michigan opts out, Michigan students will miss out.
The Word from Lansing is a regular column for Catholic news outlets provided by Michigan Catholic Conference, the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.
