More than 100 California faith and education leaders are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to enroll the state in President Trump’s new school-choice tax credit before the deadline arrives.
The coalition—represented by Catholic schools, Orthodox Jewish organizations and school-choice advocates—warned in an Oct. 23 letter obtained exclusively by the California Post that California could effectively send billions of dollars in tax benefits to students in other states if Newsom declines to participate.
“California dollars should remain in California to help California students. Governor Newsom, we are simply asking California to participate,” the letter states. It was signed by 121 leaders from California schools, religious institutions and advocacy organizations.
“California taxpayers. California dollars. California students. Please ensure that California families have the opportunity to benefit from this new federal program,” the letter adds.
The Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, also known as the Education Freedom Tax Credit, was established under Trump’s 2025 tax law. The provision allows individual taxpayers to claim up to $1,700 in federal income tax credits for cash donations to eligible scholarship organizations. Married couples filing jointly can claim up to $3,400.
The scholarships may be used for private-school tuition, tutoring, after-school care and services for students with special needs.
States must formally opt into the program by Jan. 1.
Students in states that do not participate will be ineligible for the scholarships. However, donors in those states may still claim the federal tax credit by contributing to scholarship organizations located in participating states.
Newsom, who is scheduled to leave office in January, has not announced whether California will join.
A spokesperson for the governor’s office told the Post that officials are “reviewing the materials released” and had nothing further to share.
Education Secretary McMahon also encouraged governors to embrace the tax credit in an exclusive interview with the Post last week.
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“It’s free money coming into the education system. And the misperception or conception is that this takes money away from public schools is totally wrong,” she said. “This is not taxpayer dollars. It is private-sector money coming into these scholarship-granting organizations.”
“I would just urge governors to opt in,” McMahon said.
Sydney Altfield, CEO of Teach Coalition and one of the letter’s co-chairs, told The Post that Newsom’s office had shown “some movement,” though it has not indicated how the governor will decide.
Altfield cited a letter Newsom recently signed alongside several other Democratic governors.
In the Oct. 22 letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the governors of California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey requested additional information about the program. They asked about its potential costs to states, whether public-school students could use the funds and how officials could ensure that lower-income families benefit.
Newsom would not be the first prominent Democrat to support the initiative.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Oct. 9 that her state would participate, arguing that all students—including those attending public schools—should have a chance to benefit. Hochul said she did not want New York to leave federal funding on the table.
The coalition estimates that the program could direct as much as $6.2 billion annually to California students if 30% of eligible taxpayers participate. The estimate comes from Education Reform Now, an education-reform advocacy group.
Opponents argue that the tax credit would channel federal support toward private and religious schools. Citing an analysis of donors to a similar Ohio program, the Brookings Institution has predicted that a larger share of the money could flow to wealthier communities.
Altfield rejected that criticism, saying public-school families would ultimately receive the greatest benefit.
“The majority of California students who go to public school are going to use this on tutoring, on after-school care, helping, you know, working-class mothers and fathers who have two or three jobs pay for that after-school care,” she said.
