\u201c<\/strong>Voucher schemes are transparent attempts to diminish parental choice by syphoning money away from public schools to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. The research shows that vouchers hurt student achievement, go 70 percent to families with kids already in private school, and that private schools then increase tuition in response,\u201d said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe ECCA would create a federal tax credit for individuals who donate to groups that provide school choice scholarships to students. The scholarships would be available for students from families with incomes up to 300 percent of their area\u2019s median gross income.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the biggest concerns for opponents is the lack of restrictions over to what type of schools these scholarships could go. Private schools are not upheld to the same federal regulations, making them immune to investigations by the Education Department if concerns of discrimination are raised. \u00a0<\/p>\n
While the school choice movement says their goal is to create competition in education, the measure could result in wildly different classroom experiences for students. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t understand, if this bill passes and is signed into law, why only certain schools in a community have to be accountable to their local communities because they’re being supported with tax dollars,\u201d said David Schuler, executive director of the School Superintendents Association.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have two schools a block away, one a private school with voucher dollars, another public school without voucher dollars, both being supported by those either local or national taxpayers, and one with no accountability measures,\u201d Schuler added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The school choice movement had seen multiple successes since the pandemic, but it has also repeatedly fallen short in blue and even some red states. More than a dozen states have rejected school choice measures, most recently in November, when ballot measures failed in Kentucky, Colorado and Nebraska. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Advocates describe the ECCA as a natural next step.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs with the Civil Rights Act of two generations ago, Congress needs to step in and bypass that opposition to education freedom where it exists in states,\u201d Peter Murphy, senior advisor of Invest in Education coalition, previously told The Hill. \u00a0<\/p>\n
But the success of the ECCA in reconciliation is not assured as congressional Republicans are deeply fractured over the sweeping package, with some wanting deeper cuts to government spending while moderates fear the impact on federal benefits such as Medicaid. <\/p>\n
With Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) facing razor-thin margins in the lower chamber, hard-liners such as GOP Reps.\u00a0Chip Roy\u00a0(Texas) and\u00a0Ralph Norman\u00a0(S.C.) have already said they are planning to vote against the bill. <\/p>\n
And even if the legislation does survive the House, Senate Republicans are already voicing their own doubts, too.<\/p>\n
While concerns of how ECCA will affect students are top of mind for critics, the legislation\u2019s dollar-for-dollar tax credit is also under criticism as it will give these scholarship programs a leg up over tax credits for other nonprofits. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really becomes a financial tax donation, right?\u201d said Schuler. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think it’s going to hit other nonprofits. It’s going to hit their revenue significantly. And I just, again, I hope other nonprofits think about that, and I hope our legislators think about\u201d that, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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