Advocates urge Healey to opt out of Trump's education tax credit, warn of 'substantial negative impact' on public schools

Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald on Oct 5, 2026

Published in News & Features

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Education advocates, teachers, parents and more gathered in the State House on Monday to urge the governor not to opt in to a federal tax credit program they called a “backdoor plan to allow vouchers” subsidizing private schools with public money.

“We’re making it crystal clear that as educators, parents, students, and families, and over 40 community organizations representing hundreds of thousands of people committed to quality public education, opting in to this latest voucher scheme would set us back, not forward,” said American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts chapter President Jessica Tang. “And that is why we are calling on the governor to protect the birthplace of public education and the future of our public schools by opting out.”

The voluntary federal Education Freedom Tax Credit program, a Trump Administration initiative passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to create the “first nationwide school choice program,” would allow taxpayers to claim an up to $1,700 tax credit by contributing to scholarship-granting organizations that would distribute funds to K-12 educational institutions.

Each state has until Jan. 1, 2027 to opt in to the program. The Trump Administration released regulations detailing the program last week.

As of Monday, a state Executive Office of Education spokesperson said they are “reviewing the temporary and proposed regulations that the Trump Administration issued last week,” giving no indication whether Massachusetts intends to opt in.

Opponents of the program, which they call a “school voucher scheme,” include the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, Massachusetts Association of School Committees, New England Conference of the NAACP, both major state teachers unions, and more.

“Once we open the floodgates to the voucher nation, it will be difficult to recover when we inevitably encounter the wave of fraud, discrimination, and the misuse of public taxpayers’ dollars that other states with voucher programs have experienced,” said Vatsady Sivongxay, the executive director of Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance’s Education Fund.

The Republican candidate for governor Mike Minogue previously said he would opt in to the program if elected, calling it “one of the number one reasons I’m running” in an interview on “¿Que Pasa Boston?”

The thinktank Pioneer Institute has also advocated for the program, saying it can “pay for tuition, tutoring, special-needs services, books and supplies, computers and internet access, extended-day programs and other qualified K–12 expenses” depending on circumstances.

“Supporters of the voucher scheme continue to paint a misleadingly rosy picture of this being an opportunity to support students in public schools,” said Tang on Monday. “But the truth is this: the federal regulations are crystal clear. States are banned from implementing standards or guardrails for how this public money is allocated. We would be explicitly prohibited from trying to ensure that the funding went to over 90% of students in public schools or the students with the greatest needs. Every dollar siphoned off to a private school is $1 lost in federal education funding.”

Opponents of the program argued the program is estimated to cost $51 billion nationally a year, straining public education funding, and does not allow states to tailor funding to education priorities.

“The Treasury Department’s own estimates are that the federal voucher program will take $26 billion off the tax rolls, slicing into income that would otherwise fund programs for public school students,” said BTU President Erik Berg.

Massachusetts Teachers Association Vice President Deb Gesualdo also pointed to the origins of voucher-style programs during resistance to school desegregation, adding “that history should matter whenever public dollars are being redirected into private systems.”

Speakers noted research showing voucher programs to declines in academic performance, public school closures and consolidations.

“This program is built to benefit rich people at the expense of working families and public schools,” said Gesualdo. “Under this scheme, families making up to half a million dollars a year could qualify for vouchers funded through private scholarship organizations using public money. Meanwhile, public school students and educators are constantly being told to do more with less: less staffing, less support, less funding.”

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