A federal school choice bill that would enable low- and middle-income families to better afford tuition at private institutions, including Catholic schools, is gaining momentum across the country.
“The Catholic Church teaches that parents are the first and primary teachers of their children and therefore have the right to select the best educational environment for their children,” Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education, wrote in support of the legislation.
The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) would open the door for tax credit scholarship programs for private K-12 education. Private or corporate donors would receive a tax credit for their contributions to a scholarship-granting organization. Parents of children who meet criteria established by the ECCA could apply for a scholarship. If selected to receive a scholarship, funds would be applied toward tuition and other costs related to their children’s education.
Introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, this legislation is supported by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the New Jersey Catholic Conference – the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops. The NJCC also has issued a Voter Voice Alert encouraging residents to contact their legislators in support of the bill.
Bishop O’Connell, of the Diocese of Trenton, recently expressed his support of the legislation in a letter to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), the bill’s sponsors.
“Since 1925, parental rights in education have been the law of the land in the United States. … The Educational Choice for Children Act protects this right by empowering parents with the financial resources they need to select the education environment that aligns to their values and works best for their children.”
The ECCA “does not create a new federal education program, nor does it compel states to create a new program,” Bishop O’Connell said in his letter, but rather, the act provides scholarship opportunities through individual or corporate donors. “This legislation does not infringe on states’ rights, nor the rights of religious and private institutions, and the government is not allowed to intrude into the religious identity or mission of a private school. These protections ensure that private and religious institutions can participate, including almost 6,000 U.S. Catholic schools.”
The bill states that students in grades K-12 from low-income and middle-class households in every state would be eligible for a scholarship – that is, children in households with incomes up to 300 percent of the median gross income level by region, as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The scholarships would cover all school settings, including homeschool. The number of students receiving a scholarship would ultimately depend on the size of the tax credits approved by Congress and the number of donors to scholarship granting institutions.
The House ECCA bill was passed in September 2024 by the Committee on Ways and Means; it had the most congressional support ever garnered for a federal school choice bill. It was reintroduced in the House of Representatives and Senate with new bill numbers S. 292 and H.R. 817 in January.
For more information, visit the NJCC website at njcatholic.org/school-choice.
EmmaLee Italia is a contributing editor for the Monitor Magazine, the Catholic publication for the Diocese of Trenton.
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