Let’s get our students (and teachers) ahead!
Sharon Sedlar | August 7, 2026
While Pennsylvania lawmakers take a breath after a difficult budget season, families cannot afford to wait. Across our commonwealth, parents are still sitting at kitchen tables trying to figure out how to help a child who is falling behind in reading, how to pay for tutoring after school, how to find a safer learning environment, or how to get an evaluation, therapy, curriculum, or school option that actually fits their child.
Every year, more than 70,000 students are turned away from the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program. Cyber charter students have already lost more than $400 million in funding, with more cuts still being pursued. And last session, charter-damaging legislation was ready to move forward.
But there is also a bright spot: the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit. Beginning in 2027, this new program will allow taxpayers to receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 when they donate to approved Scholarship Granting Organizations. Those organizations can then provide scholarships to eligible families for approved education expenses, including tuition, tutoring, therapies, special education services, evaluations, and other supports.
The catch? Pennsylvania students can only benefit if Governor Shapiro opts in.
And why wouldn’t Pennsylvania participate? The program costs the commonwealth nothing. But if Pennsylvania does not opt in, families here will lose access to millions of dollars in potential education support. Donors in Pennsylvania could still contribute to scholarship funds in participating states, but Pennsylvania students would be left out. That means the family looking for a reading tutor, the parent trying to afford speech therapy, the caregiver trying to cover an evaluation, or the student who needs a different school setting would continue to face the same barriers.
Other states have shown that education policy does not have to be all-or-nothing. Arkansas’ LEARNS Act is a good example. It expanded family options through Education Freedom Accounts, but it also made real investments in teachers and schools. The law raised the minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000, guaranteed teachers making more than the new minimum at least a $2,000 raise, and created a merit incentive program that later provided bonuses averaging about $3,300, with some teachers receiving up to $10,000. It also included investments in literacy, accountability, school safety, and other supports. In other words, it gave everyone something: families gained more flexibility, teachers saw meaningful financial support, and schools had a broader framework for improvement.
Pennsylvania can do the same. We can support public schools and still help families who need something different. We can invest in literacy and safety while also making tutoring, therapies, evaluations, and school options more accessible. When families have access to the right education option – and the support to make it possible – students win. Education wins. And our collective future wins.
In this newsletter, we’re sharing more about the Education Freedom Tax Credit, the states already moving forward, and why Pennsylvania should not leave its students behind.
Remember – you can make a change. No matter what time of school year. You have options! And we are here to help!