The Blog at MSPC

Idaho’s Parental Choice Tax Credit launched with strong momentum, supported by careful and deliberate planning by the legislature. From the outset, policymakers were intentional about designing a program that would be both accessible to families and administratively workable.

This week brought welcome news for many Idaho parents who applied for the inaugural Parental Choice Tax Credit program, which began accepting applications on January 15. The Tax Commission has started notifying applicants by email and Taxpayer Access Point (TAP) portal messaging regarding credit awards.

Let’s start with the basic reality: Idaho is increasing public education spending even as student enrollment levels off or declines.

Let’s avoid the awkward situation of explaining to Idaho families why a program designed to help them ended up putting them on hold.

As Idaho’s application window for the Parental Choice Tax Credit has come to a close, the final numbers tell a powerful story. We now know the final numbers submitted to the state tax commission by the the March 15 deadline: 6,069 families applied, covering 13,568 students across the state.

By working together, educators and industry leaders can ensure that students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to participate in the future AI economy. Through thoughtful collaboration and forward-thinking policies, Idaho is working to prepare students not only to navigate the AI age but to lead it.

The people of Washington must now consider a question once familiar to Americans: what recourse remains when government refuses to listen?

Policymakers must now decide whether the overwhelming demand is worth additional investment. No bills this session have offered to expand the program, but there have been plenty of pieces of legislation by opponents wishing to cut it.

The agency has cost taxpayers more than $2.3 trillion. Yet despite this enormous investment, student performance has shown little meaningful improvement.

If Idaho had the same population as Texas, the current participation rate would translate to roughly 184,000 students.

Parents in Idaho and Montana are among the most satisfied in the country with their children’s schools. In Montana, 51% of parents say they are very satisfied with their child’s school, well above the national average of 47%. Idaho parents report similar confidence, with 48% saying they are very satisfied.

Growing up in the era of pagers and pay phones, I survived cell phone-free until college. As a mom to a teenage boy, I tried to stave off phone use as long as possible. Debates on appropriate screen time, talks about cyberbullying, and warnings about predators have become the norm. For most students, cell phones are an integral part of everyday life, and thus, their use in school has become a contentious issue. Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are each addressing cell

The proposal would raise Idaho’s income tax rate from 5.3% to 5.325% and repeal the Parental Choice Tax Credit — just months after families began applying for it.

We were honored to have Montana Governor Greg Gianforte attend and address the crowd at our policy event in Helena on February 24. Governor Gianforte discussed his plans for the upcoming 2027 Legislative Session, noting that moving the Treasure State to a flat income tax and providing families with more education choice opportunities were among his top priorities.

As one Idaho justice noted during oral arguments, lawmakers are capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time when it comes to education policy.

By opting into the federal scholarship tax credit program, Idaho continues to reinforce its commitment to education freedom and parental choice, ensuring families have greater access to resources that help tailor education to each child’s unique needs.

Much has been said about Idaho’s new $5,000 education tax credit and the $50 million price tag attached to it. Critics have framed it as a costly new entitlement at a time when the state faces budget pressures. But there’s a critical fact missing from much of the debate: When a student leaves the public school system and uses the tax credit instead, the state saves money. Here’s why. Idaho spends roughly $9,000 per student, per year, of state funds on public education. Under

To put that in perspective: if the students currently represented in applications formed a single public school district, it would rank as the 6th largest district in Idaho. And the application window doesn’t close until March 15.

Civic education doesn’t belong to one type of school or region. It belongs to everyone. Our hope is that teams will come from across Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Eastern Washington, so students can meet peers from different communities, compete respectfully, and go home with a deeper appreciation for how our system works.

If the Legislature expects results from schools, it must also regularly assess whether its own policies are clear, relevant, and properly funded.