Coronavirus-Relief Package: School Choice May Benefit from Expanded Child Tax Credit

The Democrats’ enormous $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” (ARP) satisfied a laundry list of progressive policy priorities. But in a remarkable twist, it also included a $110 billion expansion of the child tax credit, a measure that holds the potential to become a massive, historic expansion of school choice.

The ARP, enacted by Democrats on a party-line vote, created an unrestricted, refundable child tax credit of $3,600 for children under six and $3,000 for children aged six to 17. The credit applies to all families making less than $150,000, and is paid out as a cash grant to parents if the sum is larger than their federal tax burden. (After a year, the credit will revert to $2,000 per child and become only partially refundable, although prominent Democrats are eager to make the more-generous version permanent.)

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Frederick M. Hess

Frederick M. Hess is the director of education-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

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RJ Martin

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School Choice

The Democrats’ enormous $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” (ARP) satisfied a laundry list of progressive policy priorities. But in a remarkable twist, it also included a $110 billion expansion of the child tax credit, a measure that holds the potential to become a massive, historic expansion of school choice.

The ARP, enacted by Democrats on a party-line vote, created an unrestricted, refundable child tax credit of $3,600 for children under six and $3,000 for children aged six to 17. The credit applies to all families making less than $150,000, and is paid out as a cash grant to parents if the sum is larger than their federal tax burden. (After a year, the credit will revert to $2,000 per child and become only partially refundable, although prominent Democrats are eager to make the more-generous version permanent.)