Chris Cargill of the Mountain States Policy Center discusses Idaho’s recently passed House Bill 93, a parental choice tax credit program. Cargill described the bill as a significant, multi-year victory for parental choice advocates, establishing a $50 million tax credit program for families seeking educational alternatives to public schools, such as private school tuition or homeschooling curriculum. He emphasized that this amount is less than 1% of Idaho’s nearly $3 billion K-12 education budget and does not take money away from public schools, as it is a separate line item. The program is designed to help the small percentage of students for whom the traditional system isn’t working, including those with special needs or who are experiencing bullying, thereby giving parents more options to find the best fit for their child.
He anticipates the program will have a successful rollout with high demand when it launches in January, and he believes that instead of fighting alternatives, public education advocates should focus on why parents are seeking them.
