Glenn Youngkin Advocates for National Education Freedom Tax Credit

Former Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is advocating for a national Education Freedom Tax Credit after leaving office. In August, he announced the creation of Empowering America’s Parents to advance the policy, which focuses on expanding school choice and family autonomy in education.

How the tax credit works and who it serves

The Education Freedom Tax Credit allows taxpayers nationwide to receive a credit of up to $1,700 for donations to scholarship-granting organizations. Governors and lawmakers must opt in for families in their states to receive resources. The funding for scholarships comes from private donations and the federal tax credit, not from state budgets.

Scholarships can be used for a wide range of expenses. These include private school tuition, tutoring, curricula, afterschool programs, weekend support, and services for children with developmental disabilities.

An earnings threshold is set at 300 percent of a given area's median household income. Youngkin says this threshold excludes extra-wealthy kids but includes everyone else. He claims 90 percent of children across America are eligible. The credit opens up programming not typically funded in public education and can supplement those budgets. It empowers parents to decide what fits their families’ needs.

Political reception and Youngkin’s advocacy

Political reception is mixed. Just a handful of blue-state governors have endorsed the credit. Many Democrats are concerned it is a backdoor voucher program. Youngkin frames school choice as a nonpartisan issue. He states that two-thirds of Democrat voters and over 70 percent of voters overall want school choice in this format.

In an interview, Glenn Youngkin said, "Very few people understood that this opportunity for their children existed, and if they knew it existed, they didn’t understand how it worked." He argues the format addresses a broad voter demand.

Youngkin’s education legacy in Virginia

During his term, Youngkin put K-12 schools at the center of his politics. He worked to raise the state's academic standards and revised standardized tests to align with them. He said students did better after raising expectations and increasing test rigor.

He accelerated the development of over a dozen specialized 'lab schools,' creating 15 across the commonwealth. These schools, with focuses like coding, health care, and marine trades, became wildly popular with waiting lists. Youngkin also launched a $400 million effort to combat COVID learning loss with tutoring and supplemental learning time. He pushed for bipartisan legislation that revamped literacy instruction.

Other efforts included getting cell phones out of classrooms. Youngkin said nearly 90 percent of students in Virginia now graduate with either a credential or a certificate. He channeled parents' frustrations over COVID-related school tumult. Yet he never enjoyed unified Republican control over the legislature. His attempts to establish private school choice and ban teaching of certain 'divisive concepts' were defeated. He entered office hoping for a big expansion of charters and private school choice.

Youngkin said he worked to get the federal tax credit done before leaving office in January.