Urge Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach to Support Educational Choice

Urge Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach to Support Educational Choice

Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) would positively impact our children's education.

The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) has garnered significant support in Congress, with 28 Senate and 133 House co-sponsors. This legislation aims to provide parents with greater educational choice by offering a non-refundable 100 percent tax credit to incentivize individual and corporate donations to nonprofit scholarship granting organizations (SGOs), totaling up to $10 billion annually.

The ECCA extends eligibility to students K-12 from both low and middle-income households, including those in homeschooling.

SGOs have the discretion to allocate scholarship awards for various educational purposes, such as tuition, tutoring, online courses, and special needs services.

Importantly, the bill safeguards religious liberty and private school autonomy by preventing government interference in SGOs and schools that enroll scholarship recipients. This initiative aligns with the goal of expanding parental choice in education. 71% of Americans are in favor, including significant backing from Democrats (66%), Republicans (80%), Independents (69%), and across various racial and ethnic groups.

Church Teaching:

Catholic social teaching informs us that parents are the primary educators. It emphasizes the importance of social justice and the moral obligation to ensure that all individuals have access to basic goods, including education. The ECCA aligns with Church teaching by providing parents with educational choices to find the schooling option that meets their children's unique needs. This can improve access to quality education for children, especially those from low-income families. Educational choice seeks to address inequalities by empowering parents to choose the best educational options for their children.

"As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental. As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators. Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise. (CCC 2229)"