By Steven Virgadamo—Head of School at All Saints in Norwalk

Most of us have bought a lottery ticket at one time or another.

We know the odds. We know better. Yet for a few moments before checking the numbers, we allow ourselves to imagine what might be possible. What would I do? Whom could I help? What could suddenly become possible?
Connecticut has not won the lottery. But when it comes to educating our children, we may be holding something remarkably close to a winning ticket. And if we fail to act, we may never even scratch it.

Beginning January 1, 2027, the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit will allow individual taxpayers to receive a dollar-for-dollar federal income-tax credit of up to $1,700 for qualifying contributions to approved Scholarship Granting Organizations, or SGOs. Those organizations can then provide scholarships supporting qualified K-12 educational expenses. The credit is nonrefundable, and taxpayers must have sufficient federal tax liability to use it, but unused amounts generally may be carried forward for up to five years.

There is one major catch. Connecticut must opt in. Without that decision, Connecticut children cannot receive scholarships from Connecticut SGOs participating in the program. That is why this conversation matters so much.
Catholic families should pay particular attention to this opportunity. The Diocese of Bridgeport serves nearly 10,000 students through its Catholic school system today. And the last readily verifiable published diocesan census figure I found reported approximately 108,000 registered Catholic families across Fairfield County.

Now take out the proverbial lottery calculator. Suppose just 10 percent of those 108,000 Catholic families had an eligible taxpayer who participated at the maximum $1,700 level.
That would be:
10,800 × $1,700 = $18.36 million annually.
At 25 percent participation:
27,000 × $1,700 = $45.9 million annually.
At 50 percent participation:
54,000 × $1,700 = $91.8 million annually.
And the purely theoretical maximum, if 108,000 eligible taxpayers each used the full credit, would be:
108,000 × $1,700 = $183.6 million.

Those are not forecasts. They are illustrations. Not every family will participate. Not every taxpayer will have sufficient federal tax liability. The number of current registered families may also differ from the previously published diocesan census figure. But look at the scale. Even modest participation could potentially mobilize tens of millions of dollars for educational opportunity in Fairfield County alone. That certainly begins to sound like a winning lottery ticket.

But this cannot be only about Catholic schools. As Catholics, we should certainly recognize what these resources could mean for Catholic education. Scholarships could help families who desire a Catholic education but struggle to afford tuition. They could strengthen our schools, increase accessibility and allow more children to experience an education that seeks to form the whole person—intellectually, spiritually, morally and socially.

But if our advocacy stops there, we have missed the larger opportunity. The original argument for Connecticut’s participation is bigger than Catholic schools. The program can potentially support qualifying educational expenses including tutoring, academic intervention, technology, after-school programs and other educational services—not simply private-school tuition.

Imagine a public-school student struggling to read receiving intensive tutoring. Imagine a middle-school student participating in a summer STEM program. Imagine a child with learning needs receiving specialized academic support. Imagine a high-school student gaining access to SAT preparation, college-readiness assistance or career exploration. And yes, imagine a working family receiving enough scholarship assistance to make a Catholic education possible for their child.

Those children are not competitors. They are all Connecticut’s children. That is why this should not become another tired public-school-versus-private-school argument. This should be about choosing children. Now imagine the national lottery ticket. The numbers become almost difficult to comprehend when we widen the lens. The IRS expects roughly 164 million individual federal income-tax returns for tax year 2025. Again, not every filer could or would use the new scholarship credit. But use that number for another thought experiment.

What if every state participated and just 1 percent of those taxpayers used the full $1,700 credit. That could represent approximately: $2.79 billion annually for education.
At only 5 percent participation: $13.94 billion.
At 10 percent participation: $27.88 billion.
At 25 percent participation: $69.7 billion.

The mathematical ceiling represented by 164 million returns multiplied by $1,700 is an astonishing: $278.8 billion.
Again, that final number is emphatically not a projection of what the program will produce. Eligibility, tax liability and taxpayer participation would substantially reduce any real-world total. But that is precisely why the smaller numbers are so compelling.

We do not need anything approaching universal participation for this program to mobilize billions of dollars for America’s children. At just 10 percent of 164 million returns, the arithmetic approaches $28 billion a year. That is the size of the opportunity we are discussing.

Other states are already reaching for the ticket. Connecticut would hardly be stepping into the unknown. More than half the states have already moved to participate. The latest Connecticut reporting I could verify states that 31 states have joined the program.

And perhaps most importantly for Connecticut, our neighbor New York has publicly announced its intention to participate. The New York State Catholic Conference welcomed Governor Kathy Hochul’s announcement precisely because the program can assist children in public schools with tutoring, technology, special education services and other expenses while also creating scholarship opportunities for families choosing religious and independent schools. Formal federal participation remains the final step.

That should get Connecticut’s attention. Children in participating states will have access to an entirely new stream of privately generated educational resources. Connecticut children should not be standing on the sidelines watching.
This does not replace public education funding. This point is essential. Participating in this program should not become an excuse for Connecticut or its municipalities to reduce their commitment to public education. Our public schools remain an essential civic institution. This is not about replacing taxpayer support for schools. It is about making the educational pie bigger.

For generations, our educational finance conversation has largely revolved around three sources: local government + state government + federal government.

The Federal Scholarship Tax Credit introduces another possibility: private citizens voluntarily directing federally incentivized contributions toward educational opportunities for children. When communities face difficult budgets, the traditional questions are painfully familiar: What must we cut? How much more can taxpayers afford? Which program goes?

Perhaps this program allows us to ask another question: What can we add? That is the paradigm shift.

Catholics should help lead—for everyone. Catholic families have a particular reason to engage because we understand that education is ultimately about forming the human person. We also understand subsidiarity, parental responsibility and the common good. Those principles should prevent us from approaching this opportunity selfishly. We should advocate for Connecticut to participate not merely because Catholic schools might benefit, but because children should benefit.

The child receiving tutoring in a Bridgeport public school matters. The student attending a Catholic school in Stamford matters. The child needing academic intervention in Danbury matters. The student discovering engineering at a summer program in Norwalk matters. The family searching for the educational environment in which its child can flourish matters.
That is the coalition Connecticut needs. Catholic-school parents and public-school parents. Teachers and school leaders. Pastors and community organizations. Boards of Education and municipal officials. Republicans, Democrats and independents.

Not gathered around the question, Which educational system wins? But around the question: How many more Connecticut children can win?

Governor Lamont: It is time to scratch the ticket. So now comes our part. We should respectfully but unmistakably let our elected leaders know that Connecticut should not allow this opportunity to pass us by. Speak with your mayor, first selectman and local officials. Speak with members of your Board of Education. Contact your state representative. Contact your state senator. And most importantly, let Governor Ned Lamont know that Connecticut families want our state to participate in the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit beginning in 2027.

Ask them to study the details. Ask them to demand accountability from Scholarship Granting Organizations. Ask them to make certain public-school children can benefit. Ask them to protect Connecticut’s continuing responsibility to adequately fund public education. But after asking those important questions, ask one more: Why would Connecticut voluntarily leave educational opportunity on the table?

Thirty-one states have already joined. New York has announced its intention to do so. Billions of dollars nationally could eventually be mobilized for America’s children. And even within the Catholic community of Fairfield County, our simple thought experiment demonstrates the potential for tens of millions of dollars in additional educational investment.

The winning ticket is sitting in front of us. We simply have to choose to scratch it. Governor Lamont, opt Connecticut in. Not for Catholic schools alone. Not for private schools. Not for public schools alone. Opt in for all of Connecticut’s children.

Let us not be the generation that looked at a potentially winning ticket, argued about who should be allowed to share the prize—and never bothered to scratch it.