Governor Kathy Hochul told a meeting of Agudah askanim on Thursday that New York will opt into the federal Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), a landmark school choice tax credit program that will provide $5 billion annually in K-12 scholarships nationwide beginning in 2027.
The announcement came at a private event held at the offices of Agudah Chairman Sol Werdiger, with members of the Agudah board – including Executive VP Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, COO Avi Schnall, Yeruchem Silber, Chaskel Bennett, and additional Agudah askanim – in attendance.
The ECCA, signed into law by President Donald Trump as part of his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” is modeled after tax credit programs already operating in more than twenty states. The legislation provides a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for donors who contribute to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs), which in turn provide scholarships covering a range of educational expenses, including private school tuition.
Agudath Israel of America played a central role in crafting and advancing the legislation alongside legislative sponsors and coalition partners over several years.
Beginning in 2027, donors in every state that opts in can receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for contributions to nonprofit scholarship organizations, which will then distribute K-12 scholarships to eligible students.
The maximum contribution per taxpayer is capped at $1,700, but the program carries no overall national cap — allowing communities to raise scholarship funds from taxpayers across the country. The credit has been written permanently into the federal tax code.
Eligibility for scholarships is determined by income thresholds based on a family’s place of residence. According to Agudath Israel, most families in Orthodox Jewish communities will qualify under the program’s generous income guidelines.
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8 Responses
Another win for President Trump.
You need many $1,700 donors, to make this successful. Scholarships would be limited to the amount raised. It would seem we will have more takers than givers.
She’s a Rasha Gamor and is only doing this to get votes. Please open your eyes and vote Blakeman. look at the destruction that she has done. She’s an evil witch , a real Haman. I can’t understand how so many people are fooled by democrats. It’s a real Chilul Hashem that Jews are even near her.
Do I smell election pandering? Yup, and it smells disgusting, I hope we don’t sell out to this מכשפה
“MASSIVE WIN FOR YESHIVOS”
With the aibishter’s help, I am hoping that this will be a massive win for the TUITION PAYERS. There is a real danger of the Yeshivos raising the tuition because of this government provided windfall and the average Yossi will still have to invest 75% of his earnings for tuition (see what happened in Lakewood once the government started subsidizing daycare…). This headline makes it sound like that. I really really daven that there is some mechanism to keep the Yeshivos in check. This was not intended to ease the Yeshiva fundraiser’s burden- it was meant to target the middle-class’s burden (as evidenced by the income eligibility guidelines). Yeshivos/Admisitrators/Agudah/Rabbanim- please please please have rachmanus on the middle class who simply cannot breathe anymore.
I suggest calling the governor’s office at (518) 474-8390 and use option 1 to leave a message or sending a message at https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form
and THANK the governor for this decision joining the OBBB Scholarship Credit program. (Especially as there will probably be a lot of pushback from teacher’s unions etc., hope this will help keep her stick to this decision and not walk it back before actually implementing it.)
I suggest calling the governor’s office to THANK her for opting in to the OBBB scholarships program. 518-474-8390 option 1 to leave a message.
This is a tax credit not a tuition voucher, I don’t know why everyone’s so excited. Half to people dying from tuition aren’t even paying much in taxes because they’re poor. Not to mention that in Florida the minute they gave the voucher the tuition went up lik 40% so nobody saved anything. Quit dancing