Education Justice Advocates Blast House Committee Vote to Advance Federal School Voucher Plan

 “The Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools Vows to Take Their Fight to the U.S. Senate”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 13, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Public education advocates are sounding the alarm after the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee voted to advance the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) as part of the larger Trump Tax Reconciliation Package. The controversial measure includes a 100% dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit and capital gains tax exemption for contributions to private school scholarship funds— a backdoor federal voucher program that would drain billions from public schools nationwide.

Framed by proponents as a “school choice” expansion, the ECCA is now tied to a sweeping tax bill that locks in massive giveaways for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations, just weeks after more than 1,300 Department of Education employees were laid off and the Trump administration halted key investments in neighborhood public schools.

“This isn’t about children or choice—it’s about cutting checks to the wealthy while gutting public education,” said Moira Kaleida, Director of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS). “Our students are the architects of America’s next chapter. Gutting their schools to bankroll tax breaks for the rich isn’t a vision for prosperity—it’s a blueprint for inequality. Now that the House has made its choice, we are taking our campaign to the Senate, where we hope cooler, more principled heads will prevail.”

If passed, ECCA would create a $68 billion tax shelter by funneling taxpayer dollars through unregulated “scholarship-granting organizations” that can set their own criteria for voucher recipients—without oversight, transparency, or academic accountability. The bill would allow private schools, most of them religious, to continue discriminatory admissions practices while receiving federal funds.

“Arizona students deserve well-funded public schools, no matter their zip code or family income,” said Beth Lewis, Executive Director of Save Our Schools Arizona. “Out-of-state interests already forced a $1 billion voucher scheme into our state. Now, they’re trying to double down with a federal version that would decimate public education nationwide.”

The impact of ECCA would be devastating in rural, urban, and suburban communities alike. It would shift critical resources away from public schools and into the hands of unaccountable private institutions. The consequences would be especially severe in areas without access to private schools, leaving students behind and communities underfunded.

“Our fight has always been about equity—making sure every student, regardless of ZIP code, has a shot at success,” said Jitu Brown, Director of the Journey for Justice Alliance. “The House has failed to defend our students, their civil rights, and their future. That’s why we’re now turning to the Senate to stop this disastrous voucher plan.”

With a full House vote expected in the coming weeks, AROS and its coalition partners—including the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, Popular Democracy, Journey for Justice Alliance, HEAL Together, and dozens of local and state organizations—will mobilize across the country to urge Senators to reject ECCA and protect public education.

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