On May 21, Idaho opened up the application period for, as the government website for the program notes, the “2025 parental choice tax credit or the advance payment awarded [for the tax credit] in 2026.” The Parental Choice Tax Credit bill (House Bill 93) for Idaho passed in 2025. It allows for, to quote our state’s Department of Education, “a refundable tax credit of up to $5,000 per eligible student” who attends a nonpublic school or who is homeschooled. Parents who receive the credit generally must have an income that is less than 300% of the federal poverty level.

Recently, Tim Schwazenberger published an opinion piece in support of the tax credit.

Without question, Schwarzenberger’s article accepts the value of school choice. He notes that “parents are in the best position to determine the right educational setting for their children.” To him, public schools have a problem in that they provide a one-size-fits-all model for education, whereas more idiosyncratic schools, like the Montessori school he owns, can avoid that issue. Schwarzenberger’s article ignores the needs of the majority of Idaho’s school-age population who attend public schools, the children this tax credit will ultimately hurt.

From an educational perspective, Idaho performs adequately. With regard to reading and math, the state’s K-12 students have average to above-average scores compared to other states’ kids.

Though Idaho has acceptable outcomes when it comes to standardized testing, its public schools remain in a precarious position. Throughout 2024, Idaho spent the lowest amount of money of any state per pupil, putting forward only $11,167 into every student. For context, states like New Jersey and New Hampshire spent more than $20,000 per student.

In a study of charter schools, Helen Ladd and John Singleton discovered that charter schools in one school district in North Carolina had a fiscal impact of $500 or more per public school student. In other words, when educational funds are diverted from traditional public schools, public schools absolutely see decreases in per-pupil spending.

Consequently, if even slightly less funding goes to Idaho’s public education system, a system that already spends little on its kids, then its public-education services will face serious consequences.

Children who need special education in Idaho certainly could use the money that the tax credit gives back. HB 93 has a cap of $50,000,000 for funds, providing credit to parents on a first-come, first-serve basis. This $50,000,000 does not exist within a vacuum. Idaho uses a census-based formula for providing money to students who need special education, assuming roughly 5-6% of K-12 students necessitate such assistance. But the actual number of children who need specialized education is 11.5%. Thus, according to the Office of Performance Evaluations, a spending gap of $82.2 million exists between what is spent on special education vs. what is actually needed. To children who require special education, the state provides the least amount of money of any neighboring state. If some of the money that the tax credit diverts were to go into special education in public schools, then the “one-size-fits-all” approach about which Schwarzenberger complains would be less of a problem.

Moreover, although Idaho legislators have recently passed a bill that provides $2 billion in funding to help school districts deal with decrepit facilities, the bill distributes money based on school enrollment. Therefore, rural districts will still not be able to get the money they need for old buildings that require renovations. The Idaho Statesman reports, “around 40% of districts will receive $2 million or less,” an amount that many school administrators indicate will not be enough to repair their school’s infrastructure adequately.

Idaho is doing fine in terms of state scores. But it spends such a low amount of money on its schoolchildren that those in its public school system are not receiving many of the services they require. This tax credit that is likely to divert funds from what little money already goes into publicly educated students is not going to benefit our state’s children.

Edward Dorey has lived in Idaho for seven years. He is a Boise State alum who has a strong interest in Idahoan educational issues and the state’s history.