Stop the Defunding of Our Public Schools: Oppose ECCA in the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act - PASSED HOUSE (UPDATED 5/22)

Updates

May 22, 2025: With a 214-215 vote, the House narrowly passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, H.R. 1, with all Democrats and two Republicans – Massie (KY) and Davidson (OH) – voting against it. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.

May 14, 2025: Republicans in the House Ways & Means committee have included language from the ECCA in their sweeping partisan budget reconciliation bill to make it easier for them to pass it into law. This now moves to the full House for a vote.

Congress is considering the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), S. 292 / H.R. 833, a bill that would divert $10 billion per year from public education to fund private school vouchers through a 100% tax credit scheme. This unprecedented tax break allows wealthy individuals to fully offset their donations to scholarship-granting organizations, effectively turning public funds into private school subsidies.

ECCA lacks accountability measures. It allows funds to flow to private institutions that can discriminate against students and ignore curriculum standards without having to report educational outcomes. This will exacerbate educational disparities, particularly affecting students with disabilities and those from low-income communities. Public schools, which serve 90% of American children, will lose critical resources, leading to larger class sizes, program cuts, and school closures. The bill's structure also opens new avenues for tax avoidance, such as donating appreciated stocks to evade capital gains taxes.

Tell your representatives to protect public schools and vote No on the ECCA.

Issue brief and script kindly provided by the Alliance to Reclaim our Schools