You change the trajectory of the nation because you educate the children, correct?

No, that's exactly right.

And I am honestly very encouraged that there is something we can do about it now.

I think this new federal tax credit is going to supercharge giving for school choice across the country.

And I think there's real reason for every state to opt into this.

So as your listeners might know, each state's governor has to opt in to this new federal tax credit for education.

Thirty one states have done that, including the Democrat governors in Colorado and New York.

Do you think this is a law and a bill and a tax advantage that could potentially change back to the way it was to not give these kids a lifeline that it's giving them?

But first, let's remind listeners how the Education Freedom Tax Credit will work.

Yeah, so the Education Freedom Tax Credit was part of the one big beautiful bill.

Uh, so this is a little-known new piece of the federal tax code, just a couple pages long, uh, honestly, that will completely revolutionize the way in which the federal government relates to education funding across the country.

And not because it's changing any existing education funding that happens through the Department of Education, uh, but this is a new part of the tax code that is going to increase charitable giving to scholarship organizations.

These are nonprofit, uh, we often call them scholarship-granting organizations across the country who give scholarships to kids.

So these could be school choice scholarships for a student to go to the school that will best fit their needs, uh, or it could be a scholarship for something like tutoring, uh, special education services, or transportation for education.

And so what this new credit does is, uh, as opposed to your kinda standard federal deduction for a charitable donation that you can get to any donation to a nonprofit right now, where you get to, uh, write off that part of your income from your taxes, this is a one-to-one credit.

What's the education freedom myth that's bothering you the most today?

But first, let's remind listeners how the Education Freedom Tax Credit will work.

Yes, so the Education Freedom Tax Credit was part of the One Big Beautiful Bill.

So this is a little known new piece of the federal tax code, just a couple pages long.

Honestly, that will completely revolutionize the way in which the federal government relates to education funding across the country.

and not because it's changing any existing education funding that happens through the Department of Education, but this is a new part of the tax code that is going to increase charitable giving to scholarship organizations.

These are nonprofit, we often call them scholarship granting organizations across the country who give scholarships to kids.

So these could be school choice scholarships for a student to go to the school that will best fit their needs, or it could be a scholarship for something like tutoring special education services or transportation for education.

What's the education freedom myth that's bothering you the most today?

What do you see as the challenges? Is it policy? Is it practice? What's happening that is causing those programs not to work as effectively?

Yeah, Alicia, that's a really insightful question because one of the amazing things about being in the role that I am in now where I get to advise our team on school choice policy design, I love questions like this because when you look across the history of some of these older programs, Florida included, even in my state of Indiana, we had a very similar setup to the Georgia Promise Scholarship in the early years of the Choice Scholarship Program here where It was very limited, very income targeted, but I think most importantly, and I think mostly to the detriment of the program, it restricted most of the transfers from so-called failing schools, right, from the public school districts.

And I actually think that that label and that stigma is very detrimental to program success.

So for the Promise Scholarship there in Georgia that you're speaking to, that is one of our main priorities for the state of Georgia is to get out of that, you know, what has been called a failing school model bill for private school choice.

And you would know this from the perspective of a legislator, it's very attractive at a rhetorical level to say, hey, we're going to save these kids from failing schools.

We're going to give them opportunity for a chance to get out.

But I think on the flip side, it really doesn't speak to the realities that these families are often seeking out or where they're coming from.

Help us understand what you mean by that.

What do you see as the challenges? Is it policy? Is it practice? What's happening that is causing those programs not to work as effectively?

Yeah, Alicia, that's a really insightful question because one of the amazing things about being in the role that I am in now where I get to advise our team on school choice policy design, I love questions like this because when you look across the history of some of these older programs, Florida included, even in my state of Indiana, we had a very similar setup to the Georgia Promise Scholarship in the early years of the Choice Scholarship Program here where It was very limited, very income targeted, but I think most importantly, and I think mostly to the detriment of the program, it restricted most of the transfers from so-called failing schools, right, from the public school districts.

And I actually think that that label and that stigma is very detrimental to program success.

So for the Promise Scholarship there in Georgia that you're speaking to, that is one of our main priorities for the state of Georgia is to get out of that, you know, what has been called a failing school model bill for private school choice.

And you would know this from the perspective of a legislator, it's very attractive at a rhetorical level to say, hey, we're going to save these kids from failing schools.

We're going to give them opportunity for a chance to get out.

But I think on the flip side, it really doesn't speak to the realities that these families are often seeking out or where they're coming from.

Help us understand what you mean by that.

What's the argument against this?

Well, I think it's interesting in Illinois specifically.

I actually live in South Bend, Indiana, so I'm right across the border here.

And, you know, I honestly worry a lot for the school systems in Illinois.

You know, some of the families there might start having some of the same conversations that management of the Chicago Bears are having, which is, you know, why don't we just move right across the state line here and take advantage of the opportunities in Indiana that are open to all families.

Indiana's opted in.

We have a state school choice program on top of that.

But as far as someone receiving amount of scholarships, is that limited or how does that work?