Op-Ed by The Family Foundation and published in Kentucky Today.
On July 22, Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams signed the paperwork officially enrolling Kentucky into the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit established last year when Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act. This was made possible by the General Assembly passing HB 1, sponsored by Representative Kim Moser and co-sponsored by Representative TJ Roberts, which allowed Kentucky to opt-in to this powerful new tax credit.
Starting on January 1, 2027, Kentuckians can donate to a Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) to help scholarship K-12 students at a school of their choice. Those who donate can receive up to a $1,700 dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit, effectively costing the taxpayer nothing. Despite false claims by some opposed to educational freedom, no state tax dollars are used or diverted. Instead, the program simply encourages private donations by allowing taxpayers to redirect a portion of their own federal taxes to support the educational option of their choice — private school, homeschool, or public school.
While this program benefits students from all schools, believers should use this opportunity to put a Christian education within reach of every Kentucky family who wants one.
Many Christian parents believe public schools are the best educational option for their children. Some see it as a mission field where they can send their children to evangelize their unbelieving classmates. However, this seldom happens. In fact, 90% of Christian kids in public schools don’t have a Christian worldview. What’s happening instead is parents are sending their children to schools whose foundational assumptions about morality, human nature, and truth are antithetical to a biblical worldview. Over time, their children absorb that worldview, and it has significant consequences for society.
In 2023, Ohio voters amended their state constitution to enshrine abortion up until birth as a “right.” The Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) conducted an exit poll to see why this happened. One of the study’s most striking findings was that, regardless of church attendance, those who voted for the pro-abortion amendment overwhelmingly had been educated in public schools. They also found that seven out of ten students who attended an evangelical high school or were homeschooled voted against the amendment.
The kind of education we give our children matters.
As the late pastor and theologian Voddie Baucham once said, “We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.” There is no such thing as a neutral education.
This is not a new discovery. The Puritans understood this well. They established Boston Latin School, the first public school in colonial America, because they believed education was a sacred duty and essential to sanctification and moral formation.
Expanding Christian education to include more families is a continuation of this early American educational philosophy. Education does more than communicate information; it forms the loves, habits, and imaginations of the next generation. It teaches them what is true, good, and beautiful.
God’s Word is the ultimate standard for truth, goodness, and beauty. Because education teaches students what to love and what to hate, Christians should desire institutions where every subject is taught in light of God’s revelation. Such an education requires teachers who love God and seek to cultivate that same love in their students. This is the tradition and responsibility that Christian schools carry on today.
The reality is, Scripture calls us as parents to train our children in the instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), not send them into a hostile environment that separates God from their education. But significant barriers, especially financial ones, keep many students in schools that too often teach values at odds with Scripture. If we want more young people to know and love Christ, we must make education that teaches students how to think about all of reality in light of Him more accessible.
This is why Christians should take full advantage of the Education Freedom Tax Credit to transform their tax liability into a powerful investment impacting the next generation for Christ. We have an opportunity to reach an entire generation with the gospel and educate them in Christian truth. This would not only bless our churches and communities, but our whole Commonwealth and our nation.
Kentucky has opened a door for Christian education. Christians should walk through it.