Trump Calls on Congress to Pass Federal Tax Credit Scholarship

A proposal outlined in the State of the Union address would provide tax credits for contributions to organizations that provide scholarships, including for low-income students

US President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

Members of Congress to pass his administration's No. 1 education priority during his State of the Union address – a controversial tax credit scholarship that would allow states to direct billions of dollars to private and religious schools.

"For too long, countless American children have been trapped in failing government schools," Trump said Tuesday evening. "To rescue these students, 18 states have created school choice in the form of opportunity scholarships."

"Pass the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act," he told the chamber, "because no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing government school."

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been clamoring for congressional Republicans to give serious consideration to the $5 billion tax credit scholarship proposal, which she says would "give rocket fuel to some of what's going on in states today."

The proposal would allow states to establish a program that provides a tax credit to individuals and businesses that contribute part of their taxable income to an organization that provides scholarships, mostly set aside for low-income students.


The funding, which would be prioritized for low-income families, would help cover the cost of private or public K-12 school of their choice, or pay for online classes, tutoring and after-school programs, among other things.

"The president delivered a strong message in support of America's students and their futures," DeVos said in a statement.


"Every student, parent, and teacher should be excited by this bold agenda to free them from a government system that limits their success."

"We know all too well that too many students can't read or do basic math at the level they should," she said. "In fact, one in four eighth graders is functionally illiterate. President Trump is ensuring these forgotten students are forgotten no more."

The issue has topped DeVos' agenda since she was confirmed in 2017, yet there is virtually zero chance the Democratic-controlled House would ever consider a tax credit scholarship, effectively tabling the proposal in perpetuity.


That's to say nothing of its unlikely passage in the GOP-controlled Senate, where Republicans like Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine have voiced opposition to the idea, and influential conservative organizations, like the Heritage Foundation, which have come out against the proposal.

That hasn't stopped her from trying. She recruited Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, to carry the water for the proposal in Congress and has been meeting with members of Congress and state education chiefs privately on the issue.

DeVos has even gone so far as to call out Republicans for not supporting it.