When people hear the words “school choice,” they may picture a child leaving a public school for a private school. Under the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, that is only part of the picture.
A student can remain in public school and still receive a scholarship for certain approved education expenses. That may come as a surprise to parents who thought the new federal program was only designed to help families pay private-school tuition.
As we discussed last week, a student must meet the federal eligibility rules before receiving a scholarship. The child must be eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school, and the household must meet the income requirement. Meeting those requirements does not guarantee a scholarship, but attending a public school does not keep a student from receiving one.
So, what could a scholarship do for a child who stays in public school?
Federal law allows scholarship money to pay for several types of education expenses. These include curriculum, books, instructional materials, online educational materials, certain tutoring or educational classes, some testing fees, dual-enrollment fees, and certain educational therapies for students with disabilities.
Tutoringisagoodexample of how the program could work for a public-school family. Suppose a middle school student is struggling with math. The family wants extra help but does not want to change schools. A federal scholarship could potentially help pay for qualified tutoring outside the home.
There are rules, however. The tutor cannot be related to the student. The tutor or instructor must also meet certain requirements, such as being a licensed teacher, having taught at an eligible school, or being an expert in the subject being taught.
Testing is another possible expense. Scholarship money may be used for fees connected with certain nationally recognized achievement tests, Advanced Placement exams, and exams related to college admission. For an older student, the scholarship may also help with fees for dual enrollment at a college or university.
The law also includes certain educational therapies for students with disabilities. These may include occupational, behavioral, physical, and speech-language therapies when a licensed or accredited professional provides the service.
Books and learning materials are included, too. The law allows scholarships to cover curriculum, instructional materials, and online educational materials. These expenses must still meet the rules of the federal program. A scholarship is not a general education spending account that parents can use for anything they consider educational.
That distinction matters.
A public-school student receiving a scholarship does not mean the child’s school district receives extra money for its general budget. The scholarship helps pay approved education expenses for the individual student. Thechildcanremainenrolled in the local public school while receiving additional educational help outside what the school normally provides.
For rural Oklahoma families, that part of the program may be especially important. A family may not have a private school nearby, or changing schools may not be practical because of distance, transportation, work schedules, or a child’s needs. Under the federal program, staying in the local public school does not automatically shut the door on scholarship help.
Consider a family whose child attends the only practical school near home. The parents may be perfectly happy with that school but want additional reading tutoring. Another family may need an approved educational therapy for a child with a disability. A high school student may want to take a dual-enrollment course. School choice, in these cases, does not necessarily mean choosing another school. It may mean having another choice in how a child’s educational needs are met.
There are still questions that families will need answered as the program gets closer to its January 1, 2027, start. Scholarship Granting Organizations, or SGOs, will award the scholarships, and families will need to follow their application and documentation requirements. The amount of a scholarship may also depend on available donations and the rules the organization follows.
Parents should also be careful not to assume that every school expense will qualify. The federal law lists the types of expenses the scholarships may cover. Families will need to check whether a particular service, class, material, or provider meets those rules before counting on scholarship money to pay for it.
The new federal program adds another piece to the school-choice conversation. For some families, choice may mean moving a child to another school. For others, it may mean keeping a child right where he or she is while getting extra help with an educational need.
That difference is especially worth remembering in communities where families may have only one nearby school. A scholarship cannot create a private school down the road or shorten a long drive to another district. It may, however, give an eligible public-school student access to some additional educational choices without leaving the local school.
Next week, we will turn our attention back to Oklahoma and begin sorting through the school-choice programs already available in our state. We will look at Oklahoma’s Parental Choice Tax Credit, the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship, the Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship,andthenew federal program to see how the money moves and why these programs should not all be called vouchers.