Thank you, Gov. Jared Polis for filling the gap. Currently, Colorado supports the youngest and the oldest students enrolled in private schools through tuition vouchers or indirectly through tax incentives, but abandons them in the intervening and arguably most important years of schooling.
Thanks to him, the state will participate in the nation’s first-of-its-kind federal tax credit program for K-12 education. Starting in 2027, Colorado donors to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) will receive a 100% federal tax credit for their donations up to $1,700 a year. The state’s nonprofit SGOs such as ACE Scholarship, Seeds of Hope, and Parents Challenge will be able to raise more money to support lower-income families who choose private schools, and more families will be able to choose the school that best meets their children’s needs.
Although the new education program only offers federal tax credits, it will help Colorado students in the same way existing state laws support preschoolers and college students by giving them a wider range of options. Even a great public school isn’t great for every student. The public schools I attended from kindergarten through my master’s degree worked well for me but I know many Coloradans who flourished in independent schools.
My professional experience only confirms this. Having worked as substitute k-12 teacher, a school evaluator for the state and federal government, and as a college instructor, I have been in countless public and private schools. No one school can meet the needs of every student. Giving families with lower incomes the same array of schooling options enjoyed by upper-income families is only fair.
Currently, 34 states offer one or more ways to support parents who choose private schools for their children. Fifteen states provide eligible families school vouchers to send their children to private schools. Seven states offer individual tax credits or deduction for education expenses. Eighteen states have publicly funded savings accounts for children from which parents can draw funds for private school tuition and the same number of states give tax credits to those who donate to scholarship funds that support tuition.
Colorado is one of four states, including Alaska, Nebraska, and North Dakota that do not offer private schools’ tax breaks for tuition donations or vouchers, to join the federal tax credit program. Most states that already provide school choice have also done so, and the remainder are still deciding. Only four states, three without school choice programs, have refused the offer.
Critics worry that increasing support for private school choice through the federal tax credit will hurt public schools. They can rest assured it will not. For years, Colorado has provided vouchers and tax incentives for preschool programs and higher education degrees. The state offers vouchers to students to pay towards private college tuition under the College Opportunity Fund and vouchers to pay for private preschool tuition under the Colorado Universal Preschool program. For Coloradans who donate to qualified, private, licensed Colorado child care facilities, preschool programs, and after-school programs, the state provides a tax credit.
The state’s public preschools, public colleges and universities have not been adversely impacted by the state’s support for students in private settings.
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The education tax credit program is completely voluntary for donors and families who receive scholarships. It will have no impact on those who do not donate or families who choose public schools or homeschooling. It’s a win-win.
Thank you, Governor Polis.
Krista Kafer is a Sunday Denver Post columnist.
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