Eight groups have filed to be SGOs in Kentucky. Two say they will serve public-school students, one of them for kids with disabilities.

Kentucky was the first state to open an SGO sign-up, in July, and it now has the first real field of applicants. According to reporting by Sylvia Goodman of Kentucky Public Radio, published September 21 and carried by the Kentucky Lantern, eight organizations have declared to Secretary of State Michael Adams that they intend to be Scholarship Granting Organizations under the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit (§25F). Kentucky's first list goes to Treasury by January 1, 2027, the day donations start earning the credit.

Here is who has filed. The Catholic Education Foundation, a long-established Louisville nonprofit. The Southeastern Kentucky Faith-Based Scholarship Fund, newly incorporated. The Kentucky Education Fund, the statewide fund led by the directors of Kentucky's 15 Area Development Districts, which we covered last week. Special Education Lifeline, a Greenup County nonprofit formed in 2024. KCEOC Community Action Partnership, a southeastern Kentucky community action agency whose president, Paul Dole, signed the SGO paperwork but was not available to comment. And two out-of-state organizations setting up Kentucky-specific scholarship funds. By the reporters' count, five of the eight are set up around private and religious education.

The two that stand out are the ones planning to serve public-school families. Will Hodges, a former public school superintendent and teacher who leads the Kentucky Education Fund, put the pitch in terms any donor understands: "It really comes down to a matter: do those employees want to send their tax dollars to Washington D.C. or do they want to send it to their local school? Most people are going to choose to send it to their local school." He also addressed the worry that donations will pool in wealthier areas: "We feel confident with our model that we'll be able to raise funds in the rural areas as well through marketing and advertising."

Special Education Lifeline is the more specific case. Its president, Angela Pannuti, is a public school parent, and she described why the group filed: "We wanted to make sure that our kids in this area, if somebody wanted to donate, that we could also get the funds in an area that we know needs it." And on who that means: "At the center of it is children with disabilities and the families that are navigating that. And by and large that occurs in the public school." That is permitted by the statute. A §25F scholarship follows the student, not the school. Eligibility turns on household income, up to 300% of area median gross income, and on the student being eligible to enroll in a public school, and qualified expenses borrow the Coverdell list, which includes special-needs services, tutoring, and educational technology. Our guide to §25F and students with special needs covers how that works.

Some perspective on where this sits. Kentucky joined the program when the legislature overrode Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of HB 1, and routed the SGO registry through the Secretary of State. A declaration is a state filing. Federal requirements for SGOs are in the regulations now under White House review, and how those rules treat non-tuition expenses will decide how much a special-education or public-school scholarship can actually pay for. Eight is also a small number for a state this size, and nothing prevents more from filing before the list is due.

For a Kentucky nonprofit, the door is still open: a 501(c)(3) public charity can file its SGO declaration with the Secretary of State and be included on the list sent to Treasury by January 1. Track the state on our Kentucky page, see who else is forming in the SGO directory, and work through formation with the free SGO builder. If you run an existing nonprofit, start with converting an existing nonprofit to an SGO.