OPINION: New Mexicans should take advantage of education tax credits

New Mexico has a choice to make. The state can empower New Mexico families with scholarships to send their children to schools that meet their needs, or it can allow those dollars to flow to children in other states. The right choice is clear: New Mexico’s children should come first.

Thanks to President Donald Trump and Congress, families nationwide now have access to the first-ever federal tax credit scholarship for K–12 students, created by the Working Families Tax Cuts package. These scholarships are a lifeline for students stuck in schools that aren’t working for them. Families can use them for private, charter, religious, homeschool or supplemental education services.

Under the tax credit program, every taxpayer can receive up to a $1,700 tax credit by donating the same amount to a nonprofit scholarship granting organization. This isn’t a deduction. It’s a dollar-for-dollar credit. Give $1,700, and you get $1,700 back. It’s essentially directing your tax dollars straight into scholarships for kids.

If New Mexico joins, the scholarship granting organizations can distribute awards worth $10,000 or more, covering private school tuition for the children who need it most. But if our state fails to opt in, those same dollars, including donations from New Mexicans, will fund scholarships elsewhere.

The stakes are high. Test scores nationwide have plunged to their lowest levels in decades. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit confirmed what parents already knew: our system is failing, especially for Native American and low-income children.

Families shouldn’t have to wait years for lawsuits and bureaucracy to deliver change when real help is available now. This is why this decision matters. Critics of school choice often argue that private school scholarships drain public funds. But that excuse won’t work here. These scholarships are federally funded, not state funded. They won’t take a single dollar away from public schools.

The only question is whether New Mexico will seize this opportunity or send it away. Our education system is broken, and our kids can’t wait. This federal tax credit scholarship will give New Mexico families a chance to act now, at no cost to the state. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has the opportunity to opt New Mexico into the program so our children, not children in other states, reap the benefits of these federal scholarships. New Mexico’s future depends on the choices we make today. This one should be easy.

Vince Torres serves as the executive director of the America First Policy Institute’s New Mexico state chapter. Jodi Hendricks serves as the executive director of the New Mexico Family Action Movement.