Restoration News has reported that the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) said a new federal tax credit under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” could lead to a significant migration of Christian families to private schools.
The CCV, an organization advocating for education reform based on biblical principles, argues that secular influences in public schools undermine parental rights and faith-based instruction. In a recent interview, CCV founder Aaron Baer described Trump’s new education tax credit as a “torpedo” aimed at teachers’ unions that have historically dominated public education funding. The measure facilitates federal support for Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs), extending state-level successes such as Ohio’s 2023 SGO program, allowing religious and private schools to access new scholarship streams. Baer framed the policy as a turning point in reclaiming Christian influence over American schooling.
According to Baer, if 100,000 families claimed the new tax credit, it would equate to roughly $500 million in redirected education funding toward private Christian schools. Each household could theoretically file for up to $5,100 when including contributions from extended family members. The credit—unlike traditional charitable deductions—applies dollar-for-dollar against federal tax liability and has no cap or expiration. This scale of potential funding could dramatically expand access to Christian education, particularly for middle-income families under 300 percent of their county’s median income threshold, which encompasses about 83 percent of U.S. households.
The surge in private and home-based education began during the COVID-19 pandemic when homeschooling rates doubled from 5.4% to 11% of U.S. households and Christian school enrollment rose by 35%—the largest recorded shift away from public education. Research from the National Center for Education Statistics confirms that faith-based schools saw consistent enrollment growth through 2024, particularly in states with robust school choice legislation. These figures suggest that additional tax incentives could accelerate existing migration trends away from public systems toward private, religious, or classical education models.
The CCV is a nonprofit advocacy organization founded in Ohio promoting policies that align with Christian values in education, family, and public life. The group leads initiatives such as the Christian Education Network, linking Evangelical and Catholic schools to expand scholarship access. Its mission focuses on advancing religious liberty and moral education in the United States. The CCV has distributed more than $9.4 million in scholarships to Ohio families through its SGO program since 2023 and continues to campaign for nationwide adoption of faith-based schooling reforms.
