In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July 2025, Congress created a new federal school voucher-type mechanism, formally known as the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA). Under the law, individuals can receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs). These SGOs then issue scholarships/vouchers that families can use for private school tuition, tutoring, transportation, textbooks, special-needs services and other expenses, including for public school students.

To be eligible for the scholarships, families must be in states whose governors choose to opt-in and have household incomes up to about 300% of the area median income, which in many places covers a large majority of families. States must voluntarily opt in (via the governor or designated authority) and must submit approved SGOs to the federal government.

This new program is relatively complex from an implementation standpoint, and many details need to be ironed out. The next steps in the implementation process include:

• States must decide whether to opt in: Governors must indicate by January 1, 2027 whether the state will participate in the program. States that opt in will submit a list of approved SGOs and develop state‐level rules in line with the federal framework.
• Federal regulations must be issued: The law gives the Department of Treasury responsibility to issue regulations that flesh out how the tax-credits will work, how SGOs will operate, how eligibility will be verified and how private schools will be regulated. It is currently unclear when these regulations will be released, especially given the recent government shutdown.
• States and SGOs will establish program infrastructure: States must put in place approval processes for SGOs, set standards for voucher eligibility, decide how the funds flow, and determine whether to restrict uses.
• Schools, families, and SGOs will need to prepare for the rollout: States that opt in will need to reach out to families, develop application processes for income eligibility (up to 300% of AMI), disclose what services and schools qualify and ensure forms and accountability systems are in place, such financial tracking and verification.

A number of groups have already begun weighing in on how they think the program should be set up, and many states leaders are already involved in conversations about whether they will participate. It is important to be involved in these conversations in your state to weigh in on how participation in the program might impact public school funding, including for CTE programs.