Nonprofit creates scholarship program fueled by federal tax credit for Kentucky students 

A statewide nonprofit organization has been established to oversee educational scholarships for Kentucky public and private school students under a future federal tax credit program. 

The Kentucky Education Fund “a statewide, nonpartisan option for administering qualifying contributions and scholarships under the new program,” a press release from the organization said. Earlier this year, the Kentucky General Assembly opted the state into a program of education grants for K-12 students promoted by the Trump administration and benefiting from a new federal tax credit. 

Republican state lawmakers said House Bill 1 would allow K-12 students and their families to benefit from a federal tax credit at no cost to Kentucky, but critics, including some Democrats, said the program is a way to support “school choice” options — at the expense of public schools — despite rejections by Kentucky voters and the state Supreme Court. 

Under the federal program, taxpayers can claim an up to $1,700 tax credit for contributions to approved Scholarship Granting Organizations, or SGOs, like the Kentucky Education Fund. The group said it received federal nonprofit recognition in July and approval from the Secretary of State Michael Adams’ office on Aug. 27 as a Kentucky SGO.  

Adams, a Republican, formally signed paperwork with the IRS to opt Kentucky into the federal program and signed a state regulation for the procedures to submit, review and process filings for SGOs. 

 The Kentucky Education Fund has partnered with Kentucky’s Area Development Districts to help with establishing the program in all 120 Kentucky counties and creating its governance. 

“For more than 50 years, Kentucky’s Area Development Districts have served as the conveners and planners across all communities, urban and rural,” said Senate President Pro Tem David Givens, R-Greensburg. “Having Area Development District leaders serve as the founding body of the Kentucky Education Fund is a natural extension of that work, bringing together regional knowledge, trusted partnerships and a shared commitment to creating greater opportunities for all Kentuckians.”

Will Hodges, a former superintendent of Green County Schools, is an adviser to the fund, and said in a statement that the organization plans to help students “from Paducah to Pikeville.” 

“The Area Development Districts brought regional knowledge from every part of Kentucky to the Fund’s formation, helping ensure that statewide reach was part of the conversation from the beginning,” Hodges said. 

According to its website, the Fund says K-12 students eligible for a scholarship may be “attending public or private schools.” Students who are “receiving a home-based education, provided the student and scholarship expense satisfy applicable federal requirements and Fund policies,” may also be eligible.