BRAINTREE -- Gov. Maura Healey has until Dec. 31 to opt into a program that could provide billions of dollars to Massachusetts schoolchildren, including those who attend the Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Boston.

The Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program was signed into law by President Trump in 2025 as part of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." This program, which will begin on Jan. 1, 2027, allows individual taxpayers to donate up to $1,700 of their tax dollars to a scholarship-granting organization of their choice. The money can be used by students in private and public schools to pay for tuition, room and board, school supplies, and other expenses. The Archdiocese of Boston has come out in full support of the program, sending flyers to parishes to raise awareness of it. The Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state's four bishops, has also lent its support. Any taxpayer in any state can participate, but the money cannot go to a state unless that state's governor opts into the program. As of Sept. 15, 31 states have opted into the program.

If Mike Reardon, executive director of the Catholic Schools Foundation, could speak to Gov. Healey, he'd say, "I want those dollars to stay in Massachusetts to help Massachusetts families. And so, by not opting in, you're choosing to have dollars that could support students in Massachusetts go to another state."

The Catholic Schools Foundation is the largest scholarship-granting organization in Massachusetts. It currently provides financial aid to 4,300 students in the archdiocese. Reardon said the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Program could allow CSF to serve even more students. After the pandemic, he has seen increased demand for Catholic education, but high tuition costs prevent families from enrolling their children.

"It's a watershed moment in terms of the school choice movement in the United States," he said.

Gov. Healey has said she is waiting for the final federal regulations on the program before deciding whether to opt in. The final regulations are scheduled to come out at the end of September.

"I would tell her, please, Gov. Healey, please allow Massachusetts taxpayers and students to benefit from this extraordinary opportunity," said Katie Everett, executive director of the Lynch Foundation. "That will allow Massachusetts taxpayers to retain more than a billion dollars a year in federal taxes to support our students with educational opportunities that they currently do not have access to."

The Lynch Foundation was founded by Peter Lynch, the legendary Boston investor and philanthropist who led the Catholic Schools Foundation for decades, and his wife Carolyn Lynch. The foundation has supported dozens of private, Catholic, and charter schools throughout Massachusetts. Peter Lynch himself oversaw the raising of $250 million in scholarship funds for Boston Catholic school students.

"We believe deeply that the Catholic schools have been the greatest social, economic mobilizer our country has ever experienced," Everett said, "as we watch immigrant families come to this country, to Boston, attend our Catholic schools, and graduate, becoming productive, engaged citizens of the country."