by Mary Ann Koruth
October 20, 2026
Gov. Mikie Sherrill faces a ticking clock to decide whether the state will participate in a federal school choice program President Donald Trump signed into law in 2025 — and interest groups with conflicting positions are trying to influence her.
Sherrill has until Dec. 31 to opt into — or decline — a K-12 tax credit program that lets taxpayers divert federal income tax payments for up to $1,700 per person as donations to nonprofits called Scholarship Granting Organizations, which already exist in many Republican states that have voucher programs.
The nonprofits must then use the donated money to pay for public and private school-related expenses like transportation and tutoring. Donors may not earmark contributions for a particular student, but they can donate to a Scholarship Granting Organization outside their state.
The initiative, called the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, is uncharted territory for New Jersey.
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The tax credits can cover high-impact tutoring expenses for public school students, said Wells Winegar, who heads New Jersey Policy Institute, a free-market-focused group interested in education, business and energy. Winegar is working with a national nonprofit to set up a Scholarship Granting Organization that will run tutoring programs through scholarships, he said.
“It’s not a concern of mine,” he said about opposition to the program. His tutoring program would hire public school teachers to tutor public school students, he said.
“The NJEA’s members stand to benefit financially. You’re talking about scholarships that are funding high-impact tutoring,” Winegar said. That’s a priority Sherrill supports to address achievement gaps and disappointing elementary reading and math scores on national tests.
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