McMahon announces federal tax credit for school choice donations during Tampa visit

News Channel 8 Hillsboro County | By Ty Russell | August 6, 2025

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Education Secretary Linda McMahon visited a Tampa charter school Wednesday alongside Sen. Ashley Moody and Rep. Laurel Lee. McMahon touted a new federal tax credit that became law when President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill last month.

The new tax break is an effort to attract more donors for scholarships to help families who want a different option outside of their neighborhood public school.

“Parents should also be in the driver’s seat when it comes to opportunity and choice. Every student deserves a shot at success and no child should be shackled to a failing school,” McMahon said.

McMahon spoke at Brooks-Debartolo Collegiate High School. She explained how she feels about school choice scholarships.

“To support families choosing private school or education options that best meet their children’s needs,” McMahon said.

McMahon announced that the federal government will soon offer a dollar-for-dollar credit up to $1,700 for each individual taxpayer. The donation must be made to a federally recognized non-profit that gives scholarships to students.

Sen. Moody told the audience this program is different from publicly funded voucher programs.

“This is not federal dollars. It’s private donations that go to these tax credit scholarships. it’s encouraging people to give,” Moody said.

These scholarships could go to almost all income levels and the funds can be used for tuition, transportation, books, tutoring, along with special needs.

Public school advocates have expressed concern about the growing number of voucher and scholarship programs leading to declining enrollment, which could mean fewer dollars from public funding.

Moody said she is not against public schools, and she also said state lawmakers in Tallahassee would agree.

“We must still support public schools. They are a big part of communities which we live. They’re the fabric of many communities and we will keep supporting them,” Moody said.

The tax credit program will go into effect in 2027.

In response to this announcement, Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association, released the following statement over concerns of growing voucher programs and scholarships:

“Florida’s unaccountable voucher system diverts nearly $4 billion away from public education- and the impacts of this are far reaching. Educators and communitas are forced to do more with less funding and less resources and the ones who pay the price are our students. For the past 25 years, Florida leadership has placed a premium on unaccountable voucher programs while over burdening the public schools that a majority of parents still rely on for their children. In fact, this pattern of no accountability is the reason why earlier this year, it was discovered that nearly 22,000 students who were in enrolled in public schools were on the voucher financial rolls as well. It’s the reason why charter schools are now allowed to operate within and use the services of traditional public schools without input from educators. It’s the reason why these schools are allowed to pick and choose who gets an opportunity to succeed- and are allowed to leave behind the students who need the most support. A lack of accountability hurts our children. At the Florida Education Association, we believe that all children should have access to a world class, free public education. To get there, we need to ensure that traditional public schools and public school educators have the support they need.”