Last month, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers sent a letter to the nation’s governors urging them to reject the opportunity to generate billions of additional dollars for K-12 education from the new Education Freedom Tax Credit. This followed a letter from 33 state teachers union leaders that also urged governors not to participate.
This says a lot about the priorities of teachers union leaders. To be clear, their priorities have nothing to do with helping America’s K-12 students succeed in the classroom.
So, what are their priorities? Defending Education recently released a report on where the NEA and AFT spend their money. Since August 2015, they raised $467.2 million in dues from hard-working teachers and, all told, they gave out $669.3 million in member dues and fees and Political Action Committee funds to left-wing political entities, left-wing nonprofit organizations, school board campaigns, and opponents of school choice.
They are using member dues/fees and PAC dollars to fund a progressive-socialist agenda, not to help hard-working teachers and certainly not to help America’s K-12 students succeed in the classroom. You would think the dismal reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress over the last five years would force a change in priorities.
Consider just a few of the key NAEP data points. In 2019, 35% of 4th graders were scoring at the below basic level in reading. In 2024, that number spiked to 41%. For eighth-grade math, the numbers are even worse. In 2019, 32% were scoring at below the basic level. In 2024, that number ballooned to 41%.
There is no way to positively spin these NAEP scores. They are a disgrace. There is a crisis in K-12 education, and yet national and state teachers union leaders remain inexplicably opposed to allowing K-12 parents to help their own children via the EFTC.
The EFTC is a federal scholarship tax credit law that will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Thirty-one states have opted in or declared their intention to do so. The law allows taxpayers to contribute $1700 to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations for which they receive a dollar-for-dollar credit on their federal taxes. The SGOs provide scholarships that K-12 parents can use for a variety of educational purposes, including tutoring, tuition, special needs services, education technology, curriculum materials, or after-school programs. Students in any educational environment, public or private, will benefit.
Consider what tutoring scholarships for reading and math could mean for millions of families. If you are a family with means and your child is struggling in a subject, you can afford to get a tutor. However, if you are not a family with means, you cannot afford a tutor. But getting a tax credit scholarship now gives you the opportunity to get tutoring assistance for your child.
WHY TEACHERS UNIONS FEAR, AND FIB ABOUT, NEW FEDERAL PROGRAM
National and state teachers union leaders are urging governors to forgo this incredible opportunity to help K-12 parents and students in their states because they care more about their political agenda. As Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) has said, opting in is a no-brainer. It does not cost states one penny to opt in. In addition, if states do not opt in, taxpayers in those states will send their dollars to states that have opted in. If just 15% of taxpayers in the 19 states plus Washington, D.C., who have not yet opted in decide to send their dollars to another state, that’s a projected $6.5 billion loss in 2027 for parents and students in those 19 states plus D.C.
The Education Freedom Tax Credit is overwhelmingly popular among Democrats, independents, and Republicans. And it is especially popular among K-12 parents. Every state and Washington, D.C., should put politics aside, opt in to the EFTC, and make the success of America’s students the top priority.
John Schilling is a Senior Advisor for Defending Education