In this episode 

• What comes with the federal education freedom tax credits?
• How many states have opted into the tax credits already?
• The future of education for private, public, and home school students.

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Governor Whitmer as well as governors across the country have a decision to make regarding a federal program in connection with the Reconciliation Program. This week on MichMash…WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow unpack the details of this program. They are joined by Prof Josh Cowen of Michigan State University and Peter Spadafore who leads the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity.

Cowen is known for being the nation’s leading critics of school voucher programs, but says this program is much different and offers real opportunities for public and private school students. “Unlike any other state voucher program that I have opposed…public school students can use this and they don’t have to exit the public schools to use it, there is a real revenue stream that is definitely available to public schools. That is not true for regular voucher programs.”

Spadafore, is against public schools oppose opting in to the credits because, ” It starts with a long standing opposition to any type of voucher program and this is unequivocally a voucher program. It’s public dollars for private schools. We stand in opposition to that. We have done so along with the voters of Michigan who have twice rejected these types of schemes alongside Governor Whitmer, who vetoed an education savings program that was passed by the legislature a few years back.”
Governor Whitmer hasn’t indicated whether she would make a decision to opt in during the last months of her tenure. 

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