New York’s top legislative leaders are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to keep the state out of a new federal scholarship tax-credit program, adding their opposition to warnings from the state comptroller, members of Congress and a coalition of education and civil rights groups.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said New York should continue investing in public schools rather than join the program, according to an Oct. 8 statement from New York State United Teachers. The union and the United Federation of Teachers are asking Hochul to reject participation as federal officials prepare for a January launch.
The dispute is over whether New York should participate in a federal incentive for donations to organizations that award elementary and secondary education scholarships. Opponents call it a private-school voucher program and warn it could weaken public education. The Trump administration presents it as a way to expand families’ education choices.
Legislative leaders question state control
Stewart-Cousins said the federal regulations would limit New York’s ability to set safeguards governing eligible schools, expenses and scholarship spending. She also raised concern that money could reach schools outside the state.
“New York should not opt in to this program,” Stewart-Cousins said in the union’s statement.
She argued that the state should build on its work to fully fund public schools following years of funding disputes and lawsuits. Her position centers on maintaining access to a quality education for students throughout New York rather than committing the state to a program with rules set in Washington.
Heastie said public money should support schools that serve all children and answer to taxpayers. He urged New York to stay out of the program and continue supporting the public schools that educate most of the state’s children.
NYSUT President Melinda Person said the newly released federal rules had strengthened the union’s objections. “New York would put its name on this program while Washington controls the rules,” she said.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew framed the issue as federal influence over classrooms, arguing that opposition should extend across political lines. The unions’ account of lost state control is an argument against participation, not a finding that New York has already surrendered authority or changed its school funding.
Comptroller and congressional members raise concerns
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned in an August letter to Hochul that the program could leave children in underserved and rural communities behind, put pressure on state and local budgets, and reduce public-school funding if enrollment declined, according to NYSUT’s account of the letter.
Those are potential consequences, not documented losses from a program that has yet to begin. The release provided no district-specific estimate of enrollment changes or funding reductions for the Finger Lakes.
NYSUT also cited an earlier letter from 15 Democratic members of New York’s congressional delegation urging Hochul to protect public education. Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino separately called on her to decline participation, the union said.
Garbarino emphasized public schools’ responsibility to serve children of different backgrounds and abilities and their importance to families, workforce preparation and the economy. His opposition adds a Republican voice to a campaign that includes the Democratic leaders of both legislative chambers.
The union said more than 80 organizations representing educators, parents, school boards, superintendents, labor and civil rights advocates have joined the opposition. It also described public opposition to shifting taxpayer resources toward private-school vouchers; that statement does not establish how every New Yorker views the proposal.
Federal tax credit starts in 2027
The IRS describes the program as a federal credit of up to $1,700 for qualifying cash donations to scholarship-granting organizations beginning Jan. 1, 2027. A participating state must submit a list of qualifying organizations.
The credit goes to the donor, while the organization awards scholarships. It is not a direct transfer of New York school aid into a tuition voucher. Qualified educational expenses can benefit public- or private-school students; not every education expense automatically qualifies.
The proposed federal rules describe eligibility for students able to enroll in public elementary or secondary school whose household income for the previous calendar year does not exceed three times the area median gross income. Treasury and the IRS say the program is intended to broaden educational options, including for disadvantaged students. That anticipated benefit is the administration’s position, not a measured outcome.
The companion temporary regulations take effect Dec. 1 and address state participation, organization certification and reporting. Their state-administration provision also bars tighter restrictions on school types or qualified expenses while retaining charity-law requirements and reporting aimed at detecting fraud. The broader proposed rules contain a similar restriction but remain proposals, with comments due Dec. 1 and a hearing scheduled for Dec. 15.
New York is absent from the IRS participation list dated Sept. 14. That dated list does not establish a subsequent final decision by Hochul. Under the temporary rules, a state’s advance election for 2027 is due Jan. 1, with its organization list due Feb. 15. NYSUT and UFT are asking the governor to reject participation before New York commits.
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