Governor Wes Moore has declined to say whether Maryland will opt into the federal Scholarship Tax Credit, even as analysts point out the state's own public schools could raise tens of millions by setting up scholarship organizations. The math is favorable; the politics are not.
Maryland has become one of the most-watched holdouts on the federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC / ECCA / §25F), and Governor Wes Moore is keeping his options open. As the program's January 1, 2027 launch approaches, the Moore administration has declined to comment on whether the state will participate, and the Maryland State Department of Education has not taken a position. That silence is itself notable: Moore is a high-profile Democrat in a state where the decision carries real money and real political risk in both directions.
The case for opting in rests on the fact that it costs the state nothing, the scholarships are funded by donors claiming a federal credit, not by Maryland's budget. Analysts have pressed the point that public schools are not shut out. Georgetown University researcher Marguerite Roza has estimated that Maryland public-school districts could raise upwards of $34 million by setting up their own Scholarship Granting Organizations, on the order of 20,000 donors contributing the maximum $1,700 credit each, to fund tutoring, transportation, technology, and specialized services for their own students. School-choice advocates have been blunter still, with one calling it “governance malpractice” for Moore not to opt in, given that Maryland residents are already eligible to donate but cannot claim the credit unless the state participates.
The case against is mostly political and fiscal. The Maryland State Education Association has warned that the program's roughly $50 billion in projected annual federal cost could ultimately reduce other federal education funding, and critics point to a largely unregulated scholarship market and the risk of enrollment and funding losses for traditional public schools. Underneath it all is the voucher framing that drives union opposition nationally, the concern that a program nominally open to public-school students is fundamentally designed to move money toward private tuition.
Two timing facts shape Moore's decision. There is no single statutory deadline, but Maryland must elect to participate before the credit becomes available for the 2027 tax year, and Scholarship Granting Organizations need lead time to be designated and to begin collecting donations. And the calculus just narrowed: Treasury's June preview signaled that states cannot attach their own restrictions, such as limiting the money to public schools, which removes the conditional middle path a governor like Moore might have preferred and leaves a cleaner in-or-out choice. Maryland's current status, and every other state's, is tracked on our Maryland state page; founders can see who is already operating on the SGO directory.
