U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon stopped in Metro Detroit Friday to encourage Michigan leaders to sign the state up for the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program.
The plan offers tax breaks in return for donations to nonprofits that award scholarships. Those awards could help low-income families with costs like school supplies, tutoring, or private school tuition.
McMahon said because it’s funded by private donations, it doesn’t take education funding away from public schools.
“This is real empowerment. Meeting each child where they are and supporting their unique paths rather than confining them to a rigid, one size fits all system. And the best part, it costs Michigan nothing,” McMahon said.
Democrats have traditionally criticized such models as allowing public dollars to pay for private education. That sort of public spending by the state is forbidden by the Michigan Constitution.
When asked about that by a Detroit News reporter Friday, McMahon said it's possible that state leaders wouldn't have to allow private schools to benefit. That’s because state officials would be responsible for choosing eligible scholarship granting organizations to participate.
Earlier this month, Governor Gretchen Whitmer reportedly said she needs more tax guidance information before deciding whether to enter Michigan into the federal program.
The IRS says as of March 17, 27 mostly Republican-led states had signed up.
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) said he’s been encouraging Whitmer to sign Michigan up too.
“If Michigan does not opt in, that means that money that people are saving through the tax credit will go to kids in other states and that doesn't make much sense. We want Michigan to benefit,” Hall told reporters.
The program is made possible because of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed last summer. School choice advocates in Michigan have pushed for years to get a similar scheme in state law.
In 2021, Whitmer vetoed a measure that would have created a similar program on the state level. Now, some education advocates are pushing her to keep the same resolve.
Last week, members of the Michigan Education Justice Coalition appeared at the state capitol to oppose Michigan’s participation.
Coalition member Jess Newman said the vouchers would hurt Michigan’s traditional public schools.
“We’re already fighting for enough funding as it is, this voucher scheme would be a match that would just light the system on fire,” Newman said. “It’s unconstitutional, it’s risky, and it puts our entire public school system in jeopardy at a time when we should be doubling and tripling down on the funding that we are putting into our system.”
Whitmer and state legislative Democrats and Republicans have all called for the state to invest more in getting Michigan students caught up after test scores slipped to a new low last year.
The parties have different ideas for what that looks like. Republicans say the state needs more accountability measures in place rather than more money on its own. Democrats say the state needs to make up for state funding falling behind the pace of inflation.
