Maryland could see an explosion of school voucher funding for students — even wealthy ones — to attend private and religious schools now that President Donald Trump’s tax and policy bill has passed Congress.
Buried deep within the Republican-led mega bill transforming government is a measure that could remake school funding.
The change has the potential to pull students away from public schools and significantly expand vouchers in a state that has so far been averse to all but a minimal use of them. It has already drawn criticism from the state’s Democrats in Congress.
The voucher provision in Trump’s bill, which just needs his signature to become law, would only take effect if the state — potentially Gov. Wes Moore — chooses to participate in the program, according to language in the bill. Maryland would have to identify organizations to accept donations and manage the vouchers.
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The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment. The Maryland State Department of Education had no comment.
Religious groups said they will encourage Moore to allow the voucher tax credit in the state.
“We believe this is an opportunity for Maryland to prioritize equality and support parental choice,” Garrett O’Day, deputy director of the Maryland Catholic Conference said in a statement. “We encourage Maryland’s leaders to participate in this program without delay.”
The program is complicated, and how much money would be available would depend on donations by individuals rather than government funding. There is no total cap on the credit and it is unclear how much state money might flow to voucher programs.
Individuals who make contributions to a voucher organization can receive up to a $1,700 tax credit. The tax credit is more generous than a deduction, allowing an individual to subtract a dollar from their tax bill for every dollar donated to a scholarship organization.
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A family earning up to $300,000 a year — or 300 percent of the median income of the area — could qualify to receive a voucher.
Maryland has had a state-run, state-funded private school voucher program, called Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students, for the past decade. Last year the state spent about $8.5 million on vouchers for 2,403 students.
The amount of money for the vouchers varies widely, depending on school and family circumstances. One student who attended Howard County’s Resurrection St. Paul School received a $1,600 voucher while 300 students attending Bais Yaakov School for Girls in Baltimore County received a total of $838,000.
To qualify for a voucher a student has to be from a low-income family.
In 2023, Moore, a Democrat, proposed phasing out funding for BOOST, but lawmakers put the money back in the budget.
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Rabbi Ariel Sadwin, who represents Jewish day schools in Maryland, said private and religious schools attempted to get a similar tax credit scholarship program through the Maryland General Assembly a decade ago, but the bill failed to pass.
Since then, BOOST has been a line item in the state budget rather than a program required by law. Sadwin there is broad support among Jewish schools for Trump’s bill.
“We are confident that we will see the benefit from the program,” Sadwin said. He believes there will be many donors who will want to “seize the opportunity” to get a tax credit while donating to an entity that gives out vouchers.
“This program would offer significant support to families seeking to choose the best educational setting for their children, including our Catholic schools,” O’Day said. “At a time when families are struggling with rising costs and limited educational options, this program could provide vital assistance.”
He said the governor should support the idea. “It has no impact on the state of Maryland other than helping these schools that serve private school students,” he said.
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Comptroller Brooke Lierman’s office said it would not review the bill — and any possible impact on state finances — until it became law.
Maryland’s congressional Democrats blasted the plan to direct funding away from public education.
U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth called the federal tax credit “an unprecedented scheme for wealthy families.” Rep. Jamie Raskin said Republicans are “showing the American people where their priorities are: with the wealthiest Americans and private institutions rather than public school teachers, students and their families.”
Before voting no on the bill in their chamber, Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen backed an amendment that would have stripped the tax credit out of the bill entirely. Alsobrooks also attempted to force schools receiving federal dollars under the program to comply with civil rights laws.
The Democrat called the Republican-led reconciliation bill “deeply unprincipled.”
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The idea is not supported among many public school advocates nationally, who fear public schools will lose students and dollars.
“The idea that we are going to weaponize the tax code to support the religious and private schools while our public schools are unable to offer after school programs ... is a travesty,” said Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy for the School Superintendents Association, referring to a U.S. Department of Education decision this week to withhold money from school districts and states for summer and after-school programs.
Maryland could put guardrails on vouchers by restricting the dollars to those schools that don’t discriminate or require schools that receive vouchers to abide by requirements similar to those for public schools. In Indiana, for instance, schools that accept vouchers must give every student the state standardized tests.
While BOOST has had some bipartisan support, it has come under criticism in the past when schools had discriminatory practices.
In 2019, a board overseeing the private school voucher program rescinded vouchers from a Harford County Lutheran school that said it reserved the right to deny admission to gay and transgender students.
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Bethel Christian Academy in Savage filed suit against Maryland after the board removed the school from its voucher program in 2018. Maryland officials said the school’s doesn’t accept same-sex marriage or support transgender people, and therefore should not be receiving state money. State law prohibits money from going to schools that discriminate.
A federal court ruled in favor of Bethel Christian in 2021 because the state hadn’t proved that the school had discriminated against any students.
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