Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday New York will opt in to the Trump administration’s “school choice” program despite opposition from teachers unions, who fear it will divert money from public schools.
The governor’s decision clears the way for New York taxpayers to receive a tax credit for donating to educational groups that offer scholarships.
Similar programs have primarily supported private schools, although officials in the governor’s office said this credit will support families attending public or private schools.
The decision comes after the state’s legislative leaders and top unions backing Hochul’s re-election campaign urged her to opt out of the federal program, which Congress and President Donald Trump approved last year as part of the legislative package known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Teachers unions have said the program will end up diverting families and funds from public schools.
Michael Mulgrew, president of the city’s teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers, accused Hochul of “a failure of leadership.”
“Gov. Hochul will bear the responsibility, but our students, educators and families will bear the price,” he said.
Hochul said she believes the program can be used to benefit all schools and students — not just those attending private schools.
“After a careful review of the federal regulations, we believe this program has the potential to bring millions of additional dollars to New York students and families without taking a single dollar from public schools or our state or local budgets,” the governor said in a statement.
She continued: “I’m not going to leave money on the table when it could help our kids.”
Under the program, individuals can get reimbursed up to $1,700, and married couples filing jointly can get reimbursed up to $3,400 for donations made to “scholarship granting organizations.” Those organizations can then give scholarships to students to attend private or religious schools or for educational services, including tutoring and after-school programs. Families making up to 300% of the area median income are eligible.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, had lobbied governors across the country urging them to reject the tax credit program.
The NAACP also fought against the new tax credit, saying it will accelerate flight of wealthier families from public schools and deepen educational inequities and segregation. NAACP officials likened it to white flight from some public schools in the South after the Supreme Court’s desegregation decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
In recent days, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie issued statements in opposition to the state joining the tax credit program.
“New York should opt out of the federal voucher program and continue investing in the public schools that educate the overwhelming majority of our children,” said Heastie, a Bronx Democrat.
But Hochul was undeterred. She had first said she was interested in opting in to the program last spring in a meeting with Agudath Israel of America, a Jewish group supporting religious education. The governor finalized her decision after the federal government issued regulations detailing how the program would work.
New York state’s Catholic bishops, including Archbishop Ronald Hicks, issued a statement Friday applauding Hochul’s decision. They have long pushed for similar tax credits that encourage what supporters call school choice.
“By opting in to the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, Governor Kathy Hochul is helping to empower New York families to provide the best education for their children, regardless of income or where they choose to send their children to school, at no additional cost to the state,” the bishops said.
The tax credit will go into effect in January.
Jessica Gould contributed to this story.