A New Era for School Choice in America
The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) is emerging as a landmark policy that could significantly expand access to private and faith-based education, particularly benefiting Jewish Education families across the United States. Spearheaded by President Donald Trump’s January 29, 2025, Executive Order, the initiative emphasizes empowering parents with the freedom to choose educational paths aligned with their family’s values and children’s unique needs.
With Congress now in the process of rewriting the federal tax code, the inclusion of ECCA in the broader tax legislation under negotiation offers a viable path toward that goal. The act proposes a $10 billion pool of tax credits available to individuals and corporations that contribute to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations. These funds would support eligible K–12 students by covering costs like private school tuition, tutoring, special needs services, curriculum materials, and educational technology.
Eligibility would be based on income, specifically targeting families earning up to 300% of the local median income. This ensures that low- and middle-income households stand to gain the most, helping reduce the financial burden of private education.
A Unified Push from the Jewish Education Community
The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), along with more than 150 national and state-level organizations, has mobilized behind the ECCA, forming one of the broadest coalitions ever in support of school choice legislation. Their collective goal: to make educational freedom a tangible reality for families of diverse backgrounds and needs.
This growing momentum was evident when over 200 Jewish community members—including parents, teachers, rabbis, and leaders—participated in Agudath Israel of America’s National Leadership Mission for School Choice in Washington, D.C. The delegation visited nearly 100 congressional offices to advocate for the ECCA, highlighting its potential to help more than a million students nationwide without increasing government bureaucracy or diverting funds from public schools.
Supporters emphasized that the ECCA would not impose new regulatory burdens but would instead rely on existing nonprofit scholarship mechanisms. The initiative also aligns closely with core Jewish values, particularly the importance of education and charitable giving—tzedaka—as a communal responsibility.
A Critical Moment for Legislative Action
For many Jewish families, the cost of Jewish day school or yeshiva education is a major financial strain, especially in larger households. Annual tuition costs can run into the tens of thousands of dollars per child, putting a meaningful Jewish education out of reach for many. The ECCA offers a solution by incentivizing local charitable investment in education, thereby easing this burden and fostering educational equity.
With congressional negotiations on tax legislation underway, advocates see a crucial opportunity to secure the inclusion of the ECCA. If passed, the act could become a transformative force, granting families greater agency in their children’s education without expanding federal oversight or compromising public education funding.
As supporters ramp up pressure on lawmakers, the next few weeks could determine whether this landmark school choice initiative becomes a reality—paving the way for broader access to Jewish education and beyond.
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