The first year of private school subsidies funded by Idaho taxpayers overwhelmingly went to religious schools, according to data released Friday morning.
Of the top 50 schools where families used their subsidy, all but four were affiliated with Christian denominations.
State lawmakers passed House Bill 93 last year, along with $50 million in funding, saying it would help families expand their children’s educational horizons by giving priority to lower-income households.
The majority of awardees were also higher earners.
The report from the Idaho Tax Commission found 55.3% of the 6,875 parents awarded the grant earned more than 300% of the federal poverty level.
For a household of four in 2026, that comes out to $99,000 annually.
Nearly all of these families have filed their 2025 tax return, showing the average household income at $178,000.
Almost all of the awarded $38.8 million went towards school tuition costs, though some parents did use the money to cover curriculum, tutoring or transportation costs.
The application asked families if their students had ever attended a public school, which only 25.3% answered yes. The vast majority also said they had never homeschooled or planned to homeschool their children.
The Idaho Tax Commission reversed course in releasing the data after denying several public records requests, including two from Idaho Education News.
Democratic lawmakers, who largely led the charge opposing House Bill 93, suggested the timing of the release more than a week after this month’s election was political.
“Idahoans were sold a lie about this voucher scheme,” House Democratic Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) said in a statement. “Voters deserved this information before casting their ballots. We should repeal this program or, at the very least, end subsidies for higher-income families.”
Attempts to reach Senate Republican Leader Lori Den Hartog (R-Meridian), one of the law’s sponsors, weren’t immediately successful.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
