Most public school leaders want nothing to do with vouchers.
Some organizations are working hard to convince them to participate in a new federal tax credit program or risk being left behind.
It works like this: taxpayers donate to specific organizations in exchange for a tax credit. Students then apply to the organizations for scholarships, and the organizations distribute the money. The scholarships can pay for private school tuition or other education-related services.
The Trump administration opened participation to public schools, too.
It’s an opportunity for public schools to tap into new funding, but it comes with some new challenges, said Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy for AASA, The School Superintendents Association.
That’s because most of the established scholarship-granting organizations direct funding to families for private schooling.
“For public schools, we have an uphill battle to build an infrastructure that supports public school students and families for the first time through a tax credit like this,” she said.
The Education Choice for Children Act authorizes 100% tax credits for donations up to $1,700 to the organizations starting in 2027. It’s modeled after state programs such as Oklahoma’s Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship Act, enacted by the state legislature in 2011.
A report cited by the U.S. Treasury projects that the program could redirect $24 billion a year to scholarship-granting organizations if 30% of taxpayers participate. In Oklahoma, nearly a quarter of tax filers have at least a $1,700 tax liability and could redirect the full amount. If 1% do so, local organizations would collect $7.2 million. If 15% do, that increases to $108 million.
Private school organizations have a head start. Donations to private schools outnumbered those to public schools 4 to 1 under the state program. The Oklahoma Tax Commission awarded $4.7 million in tax credits for donations to support private schools and $1.2 million for public school support through the program in 2023 and 2024, according to the latest data. There’s $25 million available annually for each.
And since public schools can’t charge tuition, districts will need to offer services that do carry fees — think summer school, tutoring, athletics or field trips — so that scholarships from the organizations can cover students’ costs. The U.S. Department of the Treasury is expected to provide more guidance on what expenses can be covered by the end of the month.
Pudelski said that for public schools, building the infrastructure to manage donations and scholarships could be difficult, especially for small and rural school districts. They may want to join forces with a statewide or national scholarship-granting organization to reduce the administrative burden.
States have to opt in to the federal program for students in their state to be eligible for scholarships. Oklahoma is one of 30 states that have joined as of July 24, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Governors must submit their state’s list of scholarship-granting organizations to the IRS before the program launches Jan. 1.
One concern Pudelski and others have raised is the potential for waste and fraud in such programs. A look at the state’s existing infrastructure raises concerns about a lack of oversight.
There are eight existing scholarship-granting organizations under the state program that collect money for private school tuition scholarships.
Using 2024 and 2025 data reported by the Oklahoma Tax Commission, only half of the organizations met a requirement to spend 90% of donations on scholarships. The federal program has the same 90% rule.
The data is meant to support public transparency. But it doesn’t paint a full picture because it’s reported annually, but the statute gives organizations a rolling 24-month period to award scholarship funds, said Emily Haxton, a spokeswoman for the tax commission.
The data is meant to support public transparency. But it doesn’t paint a full picture because of the way it’s reported, said Emily Haxton, a spokeswoman for the tax commission.
One of those that didn’t, Cimarron Valley Entrepreneurs Alliance, shouldn’t even qualify for the program because it provides college scholarships, though the tax commission lists it as an approved organization. The tax commission’s data show that, in 2025, the organization distributed scholarships to three colleges, while the tax credit program is limited to K-12 students.
That organization’s director told Oklahoma Watch that it never marketed the tax credit to donors and that he wasn’t sure how the organization qualified as a scholarship-granting organization.
“I feel like I may be misclassified,” Geoff Beasley said. “I need to look into that.”
The state’s largest scholarship-granting organization, Opportunity Scholarship Fund, reported $8.3 million in scholarships 2024 and 2025, which was just 78% of revenue — less than 90%. Chief Executive Officer Sarah Guardiola said that because of the way the dollars come in, say, at the end of 2023, and get distributed in 2024 and 2025, it’s like an ongoing, 24-month cycle based on the tax year and may not be reflected in the data they report to the tax commission.
“I know that for our internal audits, we track all of that,” Guardiola said. “We can show what is expiring to make sure that we're hitting our targets.”
The statute requires public reporting so everyday people can access the information, said Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, who has authored legislation revising the scholarship program.
Of the eight organizations, six provided the required audited financial statements to the tax commission, but some were out of date: two were from 2021-22 and one was from 2023. Those are required every two years for the state program, and audits will be required annually under the federal program.
The organizations are also supposed to provide information detailing the program's benefits, successes, or failures and make the audited financials publicly available on their websites, but few did, Oklahoma Watch found.
“You’re probably the only person that’s ever looked at it, to be honest,” one organization director said.
A spokeswoman for the tax commission said the agency doesn’t have the authority to penalize organizations for noncompliance. The commission refused to say whether it has ever rejected or disqualified an organization.
Oversight of Oklahoma scholarship granting organizations in the federal program, created by Trump’s big tax bill, will also fall to the tax commission.
Tulsan Mark Ross runs Go For Great Schools, which is both a scholarship-granting organization providing scholarships for students at private Catholic Schools in the Tulsa area and an Educational Improvement Granting Organization for public schools through the state’s tax credit program.
Ross, who’s Catholic, sent his own children to private Catholic schools, and even received scholarship money from Go for Great Schools. He and the organization’s treasurer, who also received scholarship money in 2024, were selected using an objective algorithm like any other applicant, he said.
He said public schools are leery of the tax-credit scholarship model, which has made it difficult to get some on board.
“Philosophically, they were taught to be opposed to tax credits because it was built for private schools,” he said. “I get that. But if you’re not sitting at the table, you’re on the menu.
“It’s been a slog on the public school side to win champions,” Ross said. “It’s not all public ed’s fault and it’s not teachers’ fault, for sure, but it’s a failure of collaboration as citizens to do this right. Too much fighting, too much polarization, not enough getting in the huddle and working together on it and empowering people to solve problems and everybody doing better for the taxpayer. That’s what we’re trying to get to.”
One district where he has found champions is Bixby Public Schools, first with Rob Miller, who retired as superintendent in 2025, and with its current superintendent, Lydia Wilson.
Bixby Public Schools received several grants from Go For Great Schools for innovative classroom projects, a STEM center, and to kick-start a new building-construction program for high school students.
Wilson said she’s been researching the federal program and thinks it has potential for Bixby and all public schools. She understands why public schools have resisted accessing those programs because they didn’t want money pulled from public schools to send students to private schools.
That ship has sailed, she said.
“Public schools are no longer in a position to turn down money on the table that could benefit our kids and programs,” she said.
In 2024, Go For Great Schools distributed $1.1 million in private school scholarships and just over $224,00 to five public school communities. Ross said he’s focused on growing the public side, and planning to seek approval for the federal program.
Another organization, Opportunity Scholarship Fund, also plans to seek approval for the federal program, Guardiola, its CEO, said. The organization’s internal structures are already set up to meet federal requirements, which differ only slightly from the state’s. Both programs cap family income for scholarships, for instance, but, starting next year, the Oklahoma program is 555% of the federal poverty level and the federal limit is set to be 300% of the area's gross median income.
“There are a lot of SGOs that are getting ready to step into the public school support structures for these families,” she said. “And that’s going to be really exciting because it provides access and resources to our public school kiddos as well.”
Guardiola already has experience serving public school students through tax-credit donations, through LaunchOK. She’s the CEO of both organizations, but they have different boards, finances, and staff.
Public school leaders, though, may prefer to partner with organizations set up specifically to serve public schools. One example is Future School Fund, launched by former Tulsa Public Schools superintendent Deb Gist. It plans to work in every state that opts into the federal program.
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
