Blue state victory: New York to opt in to federal school choice program; will other states follow? 

New York, one of the biggest – and bluest – states, is likely to opt in to the new federal school choice program.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, made the announcement Thursday at a private meeting with a Jewish religious education organization, Chalkbeat reports. A spokesperson for Hochul confirmed the governor plans to opt in after reviewing the program rules, which should be released this summer.

“Governor Hochul is supportive of the federal tax credit scholarship and its potential to help New York students and schools,” spokesperson Emma Wallner wrote in a statement.

To date, 30 of 50 states have indicated they will join the Education Freedom Tax Credit, which starts in January. Most of those states are led by Republicans or, in the case of Kansas and Kentucky, have Republican legislatures that overrode vetoes from Democratic governors.

If Hochul follows through on her promise, she would join Colorado Gov. Jared Polis as the only other Democratic governor so far to publicly support the program. Others, including North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, are considering it, but the leaders of Wisconsin, Oregon and New Mexico have said no.

Corey DeAngelis, a school choice evangelist and senior fellow at Americans for Fair Treatment, said Polis and Hochul are setting an example for others to follow.

“Now two Democratic governors have seen the writing on the wall. They’re doing it because school choice is a political winner that enjoys broad bipartisan support. They’re reading the tea leaves,” he told The Lion in a message.

“These are the first two Democratic dominoes to fall. I think we’re going to see a lot more movement soon.”

Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children, a leading school choice advocacy group, praised Hochul’s “courage” to support education freedom.

“Finally, school choice is coming to New York, thanks to the courage of Governor Hochul and the tremendous advocacy of countless families, educators, and supporters who have worked for generations to advance options for kids who need them,” he said in a statement.

The program, which passed as part of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, allows taxpayers to receive a credit for gifts of up to $1,700 made to scholarship-granting organizations, which then fund school choice scholarships. The credit will be available to all U.S. taxpayers, but scholarships can only go to students in states that participate.

One estimate found states that don’t join could leave as much as $23 billion in scholarships on the table.

Although Democrats face considerable pressure from teachers unions, which oppose school choice, supporters have noted that the scholarships can help public school students with tutoring and other educational expenses.

DeAngelis views New York and Colorado as forerunners and expects “all 50 states will opt in at some point because of the irresistible incentive baked into the program.”

“Any state that does not opt in will guarantee money will flow out of state to fund scholarships to kids elsewhere. It’s just like the 21 drinking age, which was similarly universally adopted because it’s tied to federal highway funding – after a few years all 50 states decided to follow suit.”

School choice is present in 35 states and has more than 1.5 million participants. Polis’ and Hochul’s decisions will add two states to that count.

DeAngelis hopes their boldness will cause more Democrats to “lock arms and defy the teachers unions together,” breaking free of union control.

“Hopefully this move is a sign of more good things to come as high-profile Democrats including Arne Duncan are calling out their own party for caving to the teachers unions and failing kids, which might be why many polls now find Republicans beating Democrats on education. Voters are sending a clear signal to politicians: respect parental rights or get out of the way.”