EDITORIAL: A $50 million question

The debate over Idaho’s “Parental Choice” tax credit is heating up once again, and recent reports over a lack of transparency concerning who is truly benefiting from this are stoking the flames. 

The Idaho Parental Choice Tax Relief, or House Bill 93, was passed in 2025 and approved $50 million worth of taxpayer dollars to be used to provide tax relief for families who wished to put their kids in private or charter schools, or homeschool their children at a clip of $5,000 per student, or $7,500 per student with a disability. 

The problem with this is that it didn’t limit who could use the fund; instead, the language of the legislation was purposefully left open, resulting in what many feel is an additional tax benefit for wealthier families who could already afford the costs of these non-public schools. 

Families of four, making up to roughly three times the federal poverty level — or $96,000 — were given first priority with this money. But that priority is temporary, and once that initial demand is met, the remaining funds are available to anyone who qualifies until the $50 million cap is reached. In practice, that means higher-income households can still access public dollars — often for choices they were already making. 

That concern is only magnified by information we’re not being given. 

According to recent reporting from several Idaho news outlets, the Idaho State Tax Commission has withheld much of the data that would show who is actually receiving these subsidies. Taxpayers could end up waiting months for meaningful information, and some key data — such as whether recipients were already enrolled in private schools — may never be released at all. This lack of transparency leaves the public in the dark about whether the program is expanding access or simply subsidizing existing private-school families. 

The tax commission’s position is reinforced by the structure of the law because it does not compel the state to disclose some of the most revealing data points about who benefits. Without those details, taxpayers are left guessing whether the program is achieving its stated purpose, while lawmakers are allowed to champion the success of a program that many voters oppose. 

Meanwhile, Idaho continues to rank near the bottom nationally in per-pupil funding for public schools. Classrooms are routinely facing staffing shortages, aging infrastructure and tight budgets. And in smaller or more rural districts, they have to turn to their constituents for levies and bonds in order to simply make ends meet. But instead of prioritizing the system that serves the vast majority of Idaho students, the state has chosen to dedicate $50 million annually to a program whose benefits remain unclear. 

If choice in education is going to be a priority in Idaho, and taxpayers are the ones being asked to shoulder that responsibility, then they also need to be allowed to have the loudest voice when it comes to decision-making. Without firm income limits, meaningful transparency, and stronger accountability, Idaho’s Parental Choice tax credit risks becoming less about opportunity and more about shifting public dollars into private hands with too few guardrails. 

Until those goals are met, every Idahoan should be asking: Who really is benefiting from this legislation, and at what cost?