{"id":2454939,"date":"2025-07-02T18:37:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T22:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-misses-big-opportunity-to-boost-school-choice-across-us\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T18:39:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T22:39:37","slug":"senate-misses-big-opportunity-to-boost-school-choice-across-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-misses-big-opportunity-to-boost-school-choice-across-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Misses Big Opportunity To Boost School Choice Across US"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-misses-big-opportunity-to-boost-school-choice-across-us%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2454939&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senate Republicans recently approved a scaled-back version of tax credits aimed at encouraging donations for private school scholarships for K-12 students. The new measure removes a previous $5 billion funding cap but allows states, notably Democrat-led ones, to opt out of the program, which can undermine private education initiatives. Furthermore, unlike earlier proposals, the Senate&#8217;s version gives the Secretary of the Treasury authority to oversee scholarship organizations, raising concerns about potential government control over private and religious schools.<\/p>\n<p>Despite enhancing potential funding for scholarships, restrictions, such as limiting individual donations to $1,700, have been criticized for making it harder for families to access diverse educational options. Advocates note that although the bill has notable limitations compared to it&#8217;s original form, it represents a ancient growth in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/think-tank-releases-first-ever-education-freedom-report-card-where-does-your-state-rank\/\" title=\"Think Tank Releases First-Ever \u2018Education Freedom Report Card.\u2019 Where Does Your State Rank?\">school choice policy<\/a>. Public sentiment largely supports school choice, with manny parents desiring alternatives to public education. President Trump aims to finalize the budget bill soon.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Senate Republicans voted yesterday to pass watered-down tax credits for taxpayers who donate to private school scholarships for K-12 students. While the provision reportedly eliminates a $5 billion cap on the program, it would allow Democrat states to opt out of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/limbaugh-bidens-disgraceful-exploitation-of-the-tulsa-race-massacre\/\" title=\"LIMBAUGH: Biden\u2019s Disgraceful Exploitation Of The Tulsa Race Massacre\">school choice initiative<\/a> and leave private educators vulnerable to big-government interference with educational freedom.<\/p>\n<p>The federal voucher program that passed on Tuesday is the Senate&rsquo;s version of a House measure that would establish the &ldquo;first nationwide school choice program &hellip; allowing U.S. taxpayers to reduce their tax bills by as much as they donate to private K-12 scholarships,&rdquo; as The Federalist&rsquo;s Joy Pullmann <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/16\/how-two-big-school-choice-measures-in-federal-budget-bill-would-revive-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a>. A <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >robust tax-credit scholarship program<\/a>, Pullmann noted, &ldquo;would significantly assist in reversing America&rsquo;s cultural decline.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>As passed by Senate&nbsp;Republicans, however, the bill &ldquo;now allows states to opt out,&rdquo; permitting blue states to shirk granting funds to private education,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2025\/06\/30\/upshot\/senate-republican-megabill.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a>&nbsp;to The New York Times. Furthermore, the organizations that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/petergreene\/2025\/07\/01\/senate-passes-a-different-version-of-federal-school-vouchers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">provide<\/a> the school choice scholarships will now only be able to do so in their own states.<\/p>\n<p>Of further concern is the bill&rsquo;s apparent elimination of protections for religious and educational freedom in the private schools and homeschools that make use of these funds. As Forbes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/petergreene\/2025\/07\/01\/senate-passes-a-different-version-of-federal-school-vouchers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, &ldquo;The House version included a typical voucher Disclaimer that the government could not exert any sort of control or regulation of private and religious schools that accept the vouchers,&rdquo; but the &ldquo;Senate version gives the Secretary of the Treasury authority to oversee the scholarship granting organizations.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Unlike the more expansive plan the House passed in late May, the Senate gives states a say over which groups can participate and strikes language that would have prohibited any control over private schools,&rdquo; the education outlet The 74 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/big-tax-bill-passes-senate-with-less-beautiful-plan-for-national-school-choice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>. This omission could result in the federal government dictating policy and curricula to the students and institutions receiving scholarship funds.<\/p>\n<p>On the positive side, the Senate version of the measure does away with the House&rsquo;s $5 billion limit, according to Forbes, dramatically increasing the potential funding available for school choice scholarships, while also making the provision a &ldquo;permanent feature of the tax law,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edweek.org\/policy-politics\/the-senate-passed-a-federal-voucher-program-whats-in-it\/2025\/07\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">as reported by<\/a> EdWeek. The Senate&rsquo;s provision also tweaks donation limits: The &ldquo;House version allowed donors to give up to 10% of their income to the voucher program, the Senate version limits donations to no more than $1,700,&rdquo; Forbes reported. <\/p>\n<p>The provision ultimately passed the Senate, but not until after it was changed following the parliamentarian&rsquo;s advice. The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/policy\/trump-tax-spending-bill-medicaid-cuts-senate-f79e2dce?mod=article_inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrat-picked<\/a> parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2025\/06\/27\/congress\/school-choice-religious-school-tax-carveouts-run-afoul-of-senates-byrd-rule-00429220\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> encouraged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2025\/06\/27\/congress\/school-choice-religious-school-tax-carveouts-run-afoul-of-senates-byrd-rule-00429220\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slashing<\/a> the provision entirely on Friday. However, as The Federalist&rsquo;s Sean Davis noted, &ldquo;Anything she recommends can be ignored or overridden with a majority vote.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Stop blaming the parliamentarian. Anything she recommends can be ignored or overridden with a majority vote. Gutless Senate Republicans are cynically using the parliamentarian as a foil so they won&rsquo;t take the blame for refusing to do their jobs. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HuWoCIVdAy\">https:\/\/t.co\/HuWoCIVdAy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/seanmdav\/status\/1939837893670744566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Democrat senators almost succeeded in passing &ldquo;an amendment that would have removed the federal voucher language&rdquo; early Tuesday morning,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/ynqbd#selection-4041.0-4044.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a>&nbsp;to Forbes.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Senator <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tedcruz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@tedcruz<\/a> fought heroically in the middle of the night to stop Senator Hirono (+all other DEMs + 3 GOP) from ripping SCHOOL CHOICE out of the One Big Beautiful Bill. <\/p>\n<p>He won! <\/p>\n<p>Millions of lower income families thank you for your courage, Senator! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/h3hhZu6JPl\">pic.twitter.com\/h3hhZu6JPl<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Tommy Schultz &#127482;&#127480; (@Tommy_USA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Tommy_USA\/status\/1940025261979824373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Peter Murphy, senior advisor to the Invest in Education Coalition, told The Federalist that the provision passed on Tuesday is &ldquo;scaled back from its original form.&rdquo;&nbsp;Still, Murphy and other education advocates nonetheless consider the provision a &ldquo;historical breakthrough.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Others have also expressed&nbsp;concern about how the Senate&nbsp;&ldquo;provision is significantly watered down from the one school choice advocates have been working toward since the first Trump administration.&rdquo; As the Defense of Freedom Institute Co-Founder Jim Blew <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/big-tax-bill-passes-senate-with-less-beautiful-plan-for-national-school-choice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> The 74: The Senate&rsquo;s changes &ldquo;make it very, very hard to put funds into the hands of families who just want to get their children in a better school.&rdquo;&nbsp;Blew further argued that the $1,700 limit would hamper the program.<\/p>\n<p>School choice enjoys widespread support, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/three-things-to-know-about-national-education-tax-credit-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">80 percent<\/a> of K-12 parents favoring education tax credits. As Pullmann reported, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-holds-the-school-choice-crown-but-can-it-keep-it\/\" title=\"Arizona Holds The ... Choice Crown, But Can It Keep It?\">tax-credit scholarships<\/a> in particular &ldquo;are yet another 70-30 issue that President Trump has finally rallied much of the Republican Party behind. Even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gse.harvard.edu\/ideas\/news\/19\/08\/ednext-poll-democrats-divided-over-school-choice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">majorities<\/a> of Democrat voters&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.edchoice.org\/schooling-in-america-survey-dashboard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">support&nbsp;<\/a>them, including&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.educationnext.org\/2022-ednext-poll-interactive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some 70 percent<\/a>&nbsp;of non-white Americans.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Only 28 percent of parents &ldquo;believe K-12 education is headed in the right direction,&rdquo; and many Americans feel like their children are trapped in public schools because of finances. Three in five parents would choose a school type other than public school, EdChoice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edchoice.org\/schooling-in-america-survey-dashboard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>President Trump says he hopes to sign the final budget bill on July 4.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Abigail Nichols is a correspondent for The Federalist. She was previously the opinion editor for the University of South Florida&#8217;s student newspaper, The Oracle. She is now working as the business manager at the University of North Florida&#8217;s student-run media outlet, Spinnaker Media, while obtaining a Master&#8217;s Degree in Social work.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Republicans approved reduced tax credits for K-12 private school donations, allowing Democrat states to opt out and risking government interference<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3849,"featured_media":2454940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/pexels-greatthingsllc-6138813-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[35136,4353,38091,3740,58315],"class_list":["post-2454939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-education-policy","tag-reform","tag-school-choice","tag-senate","tag-us-legislative-news"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/pexels-greatthingsllc-6138813-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3849"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454939"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2454943,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454939\/revisions\/2454943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2454940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}