09/06/2026
Why would the state not opted in for this 1,700 per student that qualifies?
DEAREST READERS, BEFORE I CALL IT A VOUCHER… 🪶
There is another education fight brewing in Michigan, and this one could use considerably less shouting and considerably more reading.
Beginning in 2027, a new federal education tax-credit program takes effect.
You may already have heard it described as a “voucher program.”
Lady Budgetdown had a question.
How does the money actually move?
So, naturally, I opened the ledger.
Here is the basic structure:
A taxpayer makes a cash donation to a qualifying Scholarship Granting Organization.
The taxpayer can then receive a federal income-tax credit of up to $1,700.
The scholarship organization uses those donations to provide scholarships for eligible K–12 students.
Those scholarships may be used for private-school tuition — and that is understandably where much of the political fight begins.
But that isn’t the entire program.
Federal law also allows qualifying educational expenses that can include things such as tutoring, certain educational services and materials, and some services for students with disabilities.
And there is another rather important detail:
This is a federal tax credit. It is not $1,700 being deducted from Michigan’s per-pupil foundation allowance and handed to a private school.
That distinction does not automatically make the program good.
It does not automatically make it bad.
And it certainly does not settle the much larger debate over public education and school vouchers.
But it does matter if I am going to discuss what this particular program actually does.
Michigan has another decision to make because states must opt into the program.
Michigan’s State Board of Education has formally opposed participation, citing, among other things, Michigan’s constitutional restrictions involving public support and tax benefits for nonpublic education.
Supporters dispute that interpretation and argue that because this is a federal income-tax credit funded through private donations, Michigan could participate without removing money from the state’s public-school funding system.
And there, dearest readers, is the actual disagreement.
Not:
“Do you support public schools or private schools?”
Not:
“Are you for vouchers or against vouchers?”
Those are larger policy debates.
The narrower questions here are much more interesting:
Would participating actually reduce funding available to Michigan public schools?
Could Michigan structure participation so public-school students benefit from tutoring and other eligible educational expenses too?
What does Michigan’s Constitution actually permit when the tax credit comes from the federal government rather than Michigan?
And before Michigan says yes OR no, shouldn’t families understand exactly what is being accepted or rejected?
Lady Budgetdown isn’t planting a flag on vouchers today.
I am doing something considerably less exciting.
I am reading the fine print.
Because whether you ultimately support this program or oppose it, the argument ought to begin with what the program actually is.
Not what either side needs you to believe it is. 🪶
With receipts and respect.
