Wells Winegar is Executive Director of the New Jersey Policy Institute,
As Governor Mikie Sherrill begins her term in office, one of the earliest education decisions before her is also one of the most straightforward: whether to allow New Jersey’s K-12 student population to benefit from the new federal Education Freedom Tax Credit, a program designed to unlock billions of dollars in private, charitable donations for scholarships for use in K–12 education.
This is not a symbolic gesture. It is a practical decision for every governor to decide to “opt in” to this federal program. By participating, there will be very positive consequences for families, taxpayers, and school systems across the state. Failure to opt-in will bring enormous missed opportunities and resulting harmful impacts on the Garden State.
Under this federal tax credit, individuals may receive a 100 percent credit against individual income tax liability for up to $1,700 in donations on an annual basis to nonprofit scholarship organizations that support K–12 students. These scholarships can be used for a broad range of education-related expenses, including tutoring, special education services, after-school programming, and tuition, regardless of whether a child attends a public, charter, private, or religious school.
The law is already in place. Whether New Jersey families benefit now depends on a single decision by the governor: opting the state in.
Read the full op-ed here.
