Following New Treasury Voucher Guidance VEA Urges Governor Spanberger to Keep Virginia Out
October 2, 2026
October 2, 2026
RICHMOND, VA — Following the Treasury Department’s release of proposed federal voucher rules yesterday, October 1, the Virginia Education Association is urging Governor Abigail Spanberger not to complete Virginia’s enrollment in the program for 2027. The new guidance would limit Virginia’s ability to shape the program while preserving a path to nonparticipation. VEA warns that even a 4% reduction in public school support – a possible estimate based on other state’s experiences with generous voucher programs – would mean nearly $1 billion less annually in public support, adding to pressures from inflation and declining enrollment. We should be investing more, not less, in Virginia’s public schools, where almost 90% of our students go.
“Yesterday’s Treasury guidance puts a critical decision before Virginia. Governor Spanberger should keep us out of this program. A four percent funding loss would take nearly a billion dollars out of our public schools. That means difficult decisions about teachers, class sizes, bus routes, and the services students rely on. Our schools are already stretched by rising costs. They cannot absorb another financial shock without consequences for children.
When students leave, a school’s bills do not simply disappear. The building still needs heat, the buses still need to run, and the students who remain still need teachers and counselors. In communities already losing enrollment, another wave of departures could put essential programs and entire schools at risk.
Governor Spanberger can keep Virginia from taking on this additional risk. We urge her not to complete enrollment in the federal voucher program and to keep the Commonwealth focused on stable, well-supported public schools.”
— Carol Bauer, President, Virginia Education Association
The federal program begins in 2027 and provides an annual federal income tax credit of up to $1,700 per individual donor for qualifying contributions to scholarship granting organizations, or SGOs. The $1,700 limit applies to the donor’s credit, not the student’s scholarship. The law sets no fixed dollar ceiling on individual awards or aggregate national credit cap; awards depend on contributions, SGO decisions, and eligible expenses (Treasury proposal, p. 14-16 and 149-150).
Virginia could not impose restrictions on the program, so it could just be tailored for tutoring or after-school activities. An SGO could voluntarily specialize in tutoring for public school students, but the state could not exclude otherwise qualifying organizations because they finance private-school tuition. Virginia would have to include every qualifying organization seeking inclusion, including eligible multistate organizations (Proposal, p. 8, 93, 173 and 180-181).
Participation would bring oversight responsibilities. Virginia would review financial and programmatic audits, examine compliance information, investigate failures, and maintain procedures for removing noncompliant SGOs. VEA is concerned about assuming these responsibilities while having limited authority to shape the educational uses of scholarships (Proposal, p. 175-177).
Virginia can still decline to complete its advance election. Governor Glenn Youngkin made an advance election before leaving office. Form 15714 is the advance-election form; an SGO list attached to it would not complete participation. IRS guidance says attached lists will not be processed and must be resubmitted through the required later process (Revenue Procedure 2026-6, p. 3-4).
Under the proposed 2027 transition rule, Virginia could submit the separate SGO list and certifications needed to complete, or “perfect,” its election between October 1, 2026, and February 15, 2027. Assuming no subsequent perfection, Virginia can decline to submit those materials. The failure-to-perfect consequence takes effect at the deadline; announcing nonparticipation alone does not complete that process (Proposal, p. 56 and 172).
VEA urges the Governor not to submit the final paperwork needed to enroll Virginia for 2027.
Statewide voucher evaluations in Louisiana, Indiana, and Ohio found adverse achievement effects for the public-to-private transfer students they studied. VEA is concerned both about students who remain in schools facing budget pressures and about students who transfer to private schools that may not deliver the promised academic benefits.
Virginia’s public schools are already facing enrollment pressures. The Weldon Cooper Center projects roughly 37,000 fewer K-12 students statewide between fall 2025 and fall 2030, a decline of about 3%. Voucher-related departures could deepen that decline and make it harder for divisions to maintain courses, staffing, and student services as costs rise.
A 4% reduction in public school operating support would mean roughly $940 million less statewide, using VDOE’s FY 2025 expenditure data. The exact calculations appear below and by school division in Appendix A.
| Funding source | FY 2025 operating expenditures |
Illustrative 4% reduction |
| Local | $11,656,756,944 | $466,270,278 |
| State including sales tax | $10,144,156,280 | $405,766,251 |
| Federal | $1,733,635,341 | $69,345,414 |
| Statewide total | $23,534,548,565 | $941,381,943 |
Source: VDOE Superintendent’s Annual Report, FY 2025, Table 15; VEA calculations.
The 4% scenario draws context from Arizona’s experience with public-school students entering its ESA program over multiple years. It estimates potential budget scale. Ultimately, public school funding effects would depend on departures, funding formulas, and budget decisions. Four percent is not a ceiling: greater departures could create larger pressures. Federal scholarships have no fixed dollar award cap, allowing potentially larger awards depending on donations and eligible costs.
VEA recommends declining participation to protect school budget stability and students’ educational outcomes. The proposed rules would also prevent Virginia from limiting the program to tutoring and other supports for public school students.
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Los miembros de la Asociación de Educación de Virginia, el sindicato más grande del estado, creen que todos los niños merecen una escuela pública de calidad. Para más información, visita www.veanea.org.
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