A reporter recently asked a college football coach what he thought about the relatively new Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), which allows college athletes to earn money from endorsements, sponsorships and other uses of their personal brand. To paraphrase the coach without his “colorful” language:
“It doesn’t matter what I think. These are the rules, and we have to adjust to them if we want to win. My job is to take full advantage of the new system, and win.”
Guess what? Federal school vouchers are coming to your community next year. The rules of the game have changed, and if you want to win, you need to know the rules and take action.
This could mean significant new funding opportunities for every school district in Texas and for the students you serve. Nearly every citizen in your community will be able to get a $1,700 tax credit by donating to a Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO), which can be any 501(c)(3) organization that accepts the money and then grants it to students for educational expenses on a broad list of approved options. Like college football and NIL, it’s kind of going to be the wild, wild West, and it is important for school district leaders to know how this works in order to best serve your community.
You’ve got to act fast, because this all starts on January 1, 2027. The football coaches who have adjusted fastest to the changing rules of college football are winning today. Just ask Indiana football fans, whose program went from an unlikely contender to national champion under a coach who quickly figured out how to make the new landscape work to his team’s advantage.
This summer, TASA hosted two informational webinars for TASA members on the topic with the assistance of AASA and will continue to share information on it. In the fall issue of our INSIGHT magazine, we included an article by Dr. Brian Woods, TASA’s Deputy Executive Director of Advocacy, which provides an extensive explanation about how the federal voucher funding works. Read “What Texas school district leaders need to know about the new K-12 federal tax credit program.”
Like it or not, the rules have changed, and so must our game plan. The key to winning will be to educate yourself, your board and your community about the opportunities that exist for your students, and then take full advantage of them.
-TASA Executive Director Kevin Brown, Ed.D.
READ MORE POSTS
