Glenn Youngkin makes the case for new federal education tax credits in Pennsylvania
EVERETT, Pennsylvania — On a humid stretch of late summer, in the kind of Pennsylvania where school buses still trace two-lane roads past cornfields and corner diners, education policy rarely arrives as a headline. Instead, it shows up in quieter ways. For example, a parent asking about tutoring after a shift change, or a grandparent wondering if a child could finally afford a different school.
TL;DR
- Former Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is promoting a national education freedom tax credit program through his group, Empowering America’s Parents.
- The program uses private donations and federal tax credits to create a scholarship pool for families, not state funds.
- It aims to assist families earning up to three times the median income (approximately 90% of households) with costs like private school tuition, tutoring, transportation, and services for children with disabilities.
- States like Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio have opted into the program, while Pennsylvania has not.
- Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is reviewing the program and has shown a preference for increasing public education funding over voucher-style initiatives.
- Youngkin criticizes states that decline the program, attributing the resistance to political pressure from teachers' unions.
- He emphasizes that the scholarships are additive, funded by private contributions, not state tax dollars.