Oregon Families Deserve the Choice Tina Kotek Is Denying Them

Sometimes an election really does present voters with a simple choice, and this November Oregon families have one that could directly affect the educational opportunities available to their children.

Beginning January 1, 2027, the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit will allow taxpayers to receive a federal income-tax credit for contributions to qualified scholarship-granting organizations. Individual taxpayers may qualify for a credit of up to $1,700, and new Treasury guidance clarifies that married couples filing jointly may qualify for a combined credit of up to $3,400. Those privately contributed dollars can then be used by scholarship organizations to help K–12 students with qualified educational expenses.

There is one rather important problem for Oregon families: Governor Tina Kotek has refused to opt Oregon into the program.

When explaining her decision, Kotek made her reasoning remarkably clear:

“At this point, I simply cannot trust that any education policy coming from Trump’s White House is in the best interest of Oregon’s kids and our public education system.”

That is Kotek’s own explanation.

I think that statement tells Oregon voters a great deal about this election. This program should not be judged by whether Tina Kotek likes Donald Trump. It should be judged by whether it creates additional educational opportunities for Oregon children and whether Oregon families would benefit from participating.

Put plainly, Kotek is blocking a federal program that lets married Oregon taxpayers receive up to $3,400 in federal tax credits for donations that fund K–12 scholarships.

Oregon does not have to raise income taxes, property taxes or create another state fee to fund the federal credit. This is a federal income-tax credit tied to voluntary private contributions. The IRS makes clear that taxpayers receive the credit for qualifying cash donations to scholarship-granting organizations, and that a state must elect to participate and identify qualifying organizations within that state before donations to those organizations become eligible.

Opponents falsely describe this as taking money directly out of Oregon public schools. That simply is not how this program works. Oregon is not being asked to transfer money out of the State School Fund and write tuition checks to private schools. A taxpayer voluntarily contributes to a qualified nonprofit scholarship organization, the federal government provides the corresponding federal tax credit, and that organization uses the donated money to help qualifying students with educational expenses.

For me, this is more than another education-policy debate. It is personal.

Cindy and I raised six children. Like a lot of working Oregon families, the decisions we made about their education were limited not only by what we wanted for them, but by what we could afford. Private education simply was not financially realistic for most of those years. It was not until our youngest child that we finally reached the point where we could afford to provide that opportunity.

I sometimes wonder what a meaningful scholarship program might have changed for our family. A scholarship does not necessarily have to pay every dollar of tuition to make a difference. For a working family, helping close the gap between what they can afford and what a school costs can transform an impossible choice into a possible one.

Now I look at this issue as a grandfather. I want my grandchildren to have every educational opportunity we can reasonably provide them. A program like this could also give grandparents like me another way to help. Instead of simply writing a check and absorbing the cost, taxpayers could contribute to organizations helping children obtain educational opportunities while receiving a federal tax credit for doing so. Multiply that incentive across thousands of Oregon families, grandparents, businesses and charitable donors and suddenly we are talking about potentially significant new resources for Oregon students.

This gets to the heart of the school-choice debate that is too often overlooked: wealthy families already have school choice. They can move into the neighborhood with the schools they want, write a tuition check, hire tutors, pay for specialized programs or arrange homeschooling. The families who have the least choice are often the working- and middle-class parents who earn a living, pay their taxes and make too much for some assistance programs, but cannot comfortably add thousands of dollars in tuition to the household budget.

Those parents love their children every bit as much as wealthy parents do. Their children deserve opportunities too.

No school is perfect for every student. Some children flourish in their neighborhood public school. Others may thrive in a private school, religious school, specialized educational program, tutoring environment or another setting better suited to their needs. Supporting school choice does not mean opposing public schools. It means recognizing that education exists to serve children, rather than requiring every child to fit the same institution.

This Election Gives Us a Real Choice

This is where the governor’s race becomes more than an abstract argument about education policy.

Tina Kotek has said no.

Christine Drazan has said yes—and she has put it in writing.

Drazan’s published education plan expressly commits her administration to:

“Opt Oregon into a Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program.”

Her plan goes further, saying the program can help Oregon students pay for tutoring, after-school programs, special-education services and other educational supports while also supporting broader educational choice.

That is a meaningful policy difference between these candidates. We do not have to speculate about what either governor would do. Kotek has already rejected participation. Drazan has publicly committed to accepting it.

And the decision is no longer months away. Oregon ballots began going into the mail on October 14 and should be arriving in mailboxes across the state now and over the coming days. Election Day is November 3.

So I am not neutral about the choice.

I am voting for Christine Drazan for Governor, and I encourage Oregonians who want greater educational opportunity, parental choice and a change in direction for our state to join me.

Oregon has spent years debating disappointing educational outcomes while repeatedly asking taxpayers for more money and defending essentially the same system. Here is an opportunity to encourage millions of dollars in private charitable contributions for education using a federal tax credit, without imposing another Oregon tax to fund the credit, and Tina Kotek has decided Oregon children should sit this one out because she does not trust an education policy originating from the Trump administration.

I cannot accept that reasoning.

When Cindy and I were raising six children, I wish we had been able to consider more educational choices for all of them. Today, when I look at my grandchildren, I do not want their generation—or another generation of working Oregon families—to be told that a better educational option may exist for their child but remains financially beyond their reach.

This election gives us an opportunity to change that.

The federal government has opened the door. Tina Kotek has chosen not to walk through it. Christine Drazan has committed to opening that door for Oregon families.

Ballots are arriving. The choice is ours. I’m voting Christine Drazan for Governor.

Head over to Ben’s Viewpoint on Substack for more local political opinion, and insight on Liberty.

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Sources & Further Reading

1. U.S. Department of the Treasury — Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Guidance
   Treasury guidance explaining the new federal scholarship tax credit, including eligibility and participation requirements.
   https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0641
2. Internal Revenue Service — Federal Scholarship Tax Credit
   IRS information on the federal tax credit for contributions to qualified Scholarship Granting Organizations.
   https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-allow-states-to-make-an-advance-election-to-participate-in-the-new-federal-tax-credit-for-individual-contributions-to-scholarship-granting-organizations-under-the-one-big-beautiful-bill
3. Cascade Policy Institute — New FSTC Guidance Doubles Scholarship Credit for Married Taxpayers
   Oregon-focused analysis explaining the $1,700 individual credit, the potential $3,400 combined credit for married taxpayers filing jointly, and the impact of Oregon declining to participate.
   https://cascadepolicy.org/education/new-fstc-guidance-doubles-scholarship-credit-for-married-taxpayers/
4. Education Week — Governor Kotek’s Position on the Federal School Choice Program
   Reporting that includes Kotek’s statement that she does not trust education policy coming from the Trump administration.
   https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/how-can-public-schools-participate-in-trumps-federal-choice-program/2026/06
5. Christine Drazan — Education Plan
   Drazan’s campaign plan specifically commits to: “Opt Oregon into a Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program.”
   https://www.christinefororegon.com/drazan-plan/
6. Oregon Secretary of State — 2026 General Election Information
   Official Oregon election information, ballot timelines, deadlines and voting resources.
   https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/pages/default.aspx
7. Oregon Secretary of State — Track Your Ballot
   Official tool allowing Oregon voters to verify voter registration information and track ballot status.
   https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/vr/showVoterSearch.do