As Congress considers the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), I encourage all lawmakers to consider the merits of this legislation and its universally positive benefits for families, whether their desire for their children is public or private educational institutions.
If made law, the ECCA would create a federal income tax credit that would result in scholarship revenue for K-12 children to support their education expenses, including public school supplemental services as well as private school tuition. As federal law, the ECCA would make nationally available the complete spectrum of educational choices that families already enjoy in nearly half the states.
As Catholics, we know the crucial role that Catholic schools serve in support of parents, the first and primary educators of their children, by providing enriching and morally robust choices—especially for all those who experience economic or other challenges that would otherwise put a high-quality private education out of reach.
As Americans, we can all agree as a matter of basic justice on the importance of access to education and the goal of equipping all young people for lives of consequence and virtue. We know many who would prefer to have greater options for their children, whether public or private. Greater educational choice for families is good for everyone, as the experience of so many states shows, and what is good for individual families and their children is also good for our whole nation.
May God inspire all Congressional lawmakers as they reflect on this proposed ECCA legislation, and may all state lawmakers continue to consider and adopt legislation that provides for an ever greater spectrum of educational choice for families who earnestly desire the best for their children and our nation.
