The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic education leaders are urging support for a federal school choice bill that is poised to aid families whose children attend Catholic schools.
The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) – S. 4416 and H.R. 8137 – would create a new tax credit for donors who give to scholarship awards, which would increase available scholarship funding.
“This would benefit students who attend Catholic schools in every state because families who meet the income requirements will have significantly increased ability to apply for scholarships for their children to attend Catholic schools,” said Mary McElroy, assistant superintendent for government programs for the Archdiocese of Newark.
The legislation, which has garnered support from entities like the Invest in Education Coalition, has been praised as a measure that will expand educational freedom and opportunity for youth across the country.
“A legacy of families’ struggles during the pandemic with school closures, mandates and transparency, is the increase in families across the country who are looking for schools that more closely align with their faith and values,” McElroy said. “This federal bill puts control in choosing an education that fits their family into the hands of parents.”
The legislation, in its current form, stipulates that scholarship funds could support tuition, fees, curriculum needs, technology and special education services, among other expenses, to be determined by the organizations granting scholarships. The federal bill defines eligible students as those in elementary or secondary institutions, including homeschool, who reside in households with incomes at or below 300% of the median income level in their area.
“I support federal policy providing families in all 50 states access to the school of their choice, and I applaud the design and protections in your bills,” Bishop Thomas A. Daly, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Catholic Education, wrote in a letter to the bill’s sponsors. “The Educational Choice for Children Act does not create a new federal education program, nor does it compel states to create a new program. Rather, the act provides students opportunity for scholarships exclusively through individual or corporate philanthropy.”
Bishop Daly adds in his letter, “These protections ensure that private and religious institutions can participate, including almost six thousand U.S. Catholic schools.”
The USCCB encourages Catholics to contact legislators and urge them to support the legislation through co-sponsoring the bill. As of mid-August, the Senate version of the bill had nine co-sponsors, and the House version had 27.
“In supporting this legislation, Catholics are supporting a key part of their own parishes and saying that Catholic education is important to offer to all families both now and in the future,” McElroy said.
To learn more, visit the USCCB’s Action Center at www.votervoice.net/USCCB/Campaigns/96808/Respond, where you can view additional details about the proposed legislation and use the online platform to send a message to your elected federal representatives.
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