Coalition of Michigan Education Organizations Urges Governor Whitmer to Reject Federal "Education Freedom Tax Credit" Program

LANSING, MI — April 30, 2026 —  A coalition of organizations representing Michigan's teachers, school administrators, school board members and advocates called on Governor Gretchen Whitmer today to keep Michigan out of the federal "Education Freedom Tax Credit" program, a new voucher-like initiative that would open the door for taxpayer-supported resources to flow to private schools at the expense of the public schools that serve 1.4 million Michigan students. 

Under the terms of the new federal program, individual states must choose to opt-in for this program to take effect there. The letter sent by the coalition today outlines the many reasons why this program would undermine Michigan’s public schools and risks widening existing educational inequities.

"Michigan's public schools are required to serve every child who walks through their doors, regardless of ability, background or zip code. Private schools, that would be the sole beneficiaries of this voucher-like program, are not." said Robert McCann, Executive Director of The K-12 Alliance of Michigan. "While supporters of this backwards scheme would argue that it expands opportunities, the reality is it undermines the needs of our students that require the most support inside of our classrooms. It would further the imbalances in our education system that Governor Whitmer has worked so hard to close in recent years.”

The coalition stated that participation would also be at odds with Michigan's longstanding constitutional prohibition on using public funds for nonpublic schools, a protection that Michigan voters have reaffirmed at the ballot box in both 1978 and 2000. A recent statewide poll of 600 likely Michigan voters found that voters continue to overwhelmingly support keeping public dollars out of private classrooms, rejecting the notion of Michigan's participation in this program by a margin of 61% to 29%.

"Michigan's Constitution prohibits the use of public funding for private schools and voters have upheld that protection every time they've been asked," said Alan Latosz, Superintendent of Algonac Community Schools. "While this federal program is designed to circumvent those protections by routing money through tax credits and scholarship organizations instead of direct payment, the effect is the same. The people of Michigan have proudly stood up for their public schools for generations and we are hopeful the Governor will continue that tradition by rejecting this harmful proposal."

Evidence from similar programs in other states shows that not only were a significant share of participants already enrolled in private schools before receiving scholarship support, meaning the tax credits largely subsidize tuition for families who can already afford it, but that the programs have had a negative overall impact on student learning in those states.

“The evidence is clear and the public has spoken: voucher programs produce abysmal academic outcomes and undermine public school funding,” said Peter Spadafore, Executive Director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity. “Opting into this federal program isn’t a requirement — it’s a choice. And it’s the wrong one for Michigan kids.”

The full text of the letter is available at k12michigan.org/voucherletter. The K-12 Alliance poll results are available at k12michigan.org/survey.

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The K-12 Alliance of Michigan is a coalition of education leaders committed to fighting for strong K-12 schools across Michigan. Comprised of Superintendents from every district in Genesee, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne counties, they are collectively responsible for educating over half of Michigan’s students.