Christian Education Network expands to Idaho, Kansas, reaching 10 states in 10 months 

Idaho and Kansas are the ninth and 10th states to join the expanding Christian Education Network (CEN), which launched in 2026 to promote school choice through policy advocacy and scholarship grants.

“Parents have the God-given responsibility to educate their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord,” Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, said in a statement. “But too many students have been stuck in failing public schools simply because their families lacked the financial resources to provide a Christian education.”

The Idaho Family Policy Center will establish a subdivision within its existing organization to serve as its partner arm for the network, CEN Executive Director Troy McIntosh explained in an interview.

“They hire an executive director who serves as the chief lobbyist for schools,” McIntosh said, describing how state family policy centers partner with CEN. “That network over the next 12 to 24 months will build membership up and start providing services, and really start getting in the state house and start speaking into the issues that matter for students in Christian schools.”

CEN history and goals

The Center for Christian Virtue launched CEN in Ohio in 2018 as the Ohio Christian Education Network, which now represents 214 Christian schools in Ohio, McIntosh explained.

“We wanted to be able to take that to other states, so we developed this affiliate model where we would help launch similar Christian education networks in other states, and we’d like to eventually be in all 50 states,” he said.

The model focuses on public policy, student scholarships, school development and teacher training. A CEN lobbyist in each state works to advance school choice legislation, while other team members help establish new Christian schools.

CEN’s teacher development program, Teach for the Kingdom, partners with Christian universities in each state to offer fellows an accelerated three-year bachelor’s degree in education. Fellows also partner with a K-12 Christian school, where they commit to teaching for four years after graduation. The school covers their undergraduate tuition and provides a living stipend, McIntosh said.

The fellowship program launched in 2026 with 24 fellows in Ohio. CEN hopes to expand the program to 300 to 500 students over the next five years, McIntosh said.

Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit program

As a recognized scholarship-granting organization (SGO), CEN can award state scholarships and soon, federal scholarships, depending on each state’s school choice laws and participation in President Donald Trump’s Education Freedom Tax Credit program, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

“For decades, Christian families have paid for two school systems. The one their children attend, and the one they don’t,” Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue and founder of CEN, says on CEN’s website. “The federal credit changes that math for the first time in American history.”

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, passed in July 2025, authorized a federal scholarship tax credit for taxpayers who donate to certified SGOs. The credit allows eligible taxpayers to claim up to $1,700 individually, or $3,400 for a couple, in federal tax credits for qualifying donations.

“It essentially doesn’t cost them anything to make the gift,” McIntosh said. “Rather than as a gift and a credit, you can almost think of it as a redirection of your taxes. You’re paying this money one way or the other anyway. It’s either going to go to the federal government or it’s going to be redirected to scholarships for kids who attend Christian schools. So it’s a no cost way for taxpayers to support Christian education in their state, and it’s really simple to do.”

Taxpayers in any state can donate to eligible SGOs, but only states that opt into the federal program can use the funds to support K-12 students within their borders. Thirty states have opted into the program, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced her intent to join them.

“We’re encouraging all states that have opted in to do it legislatively because it adds more durability to the program because you’re not subject to the whims of the governor gubernatorial election every four years,” McIntosh said. He noted that Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina joined the program through legislative action despite having Democratic governors who opposed it.

CEN will campaign at both the executive and legislative levels in states that have declined to participate, including Hawaii, Minnesota, New Mexico and Oregon, as well as any others that opt out in the future. The goal, McIntosh said, is to argue that “this is a valuable enough program that there’s absolutely no reason not to opt in.”

Residents of states that have not opted in can still donate to SGOs such as CEN, but those donations will support students in participating states.

“That puts a lot of pressure on governors to answer: why are you letting that much money leave the state?” McIntosh said. “So our goal is to get as many donations, as many contributions as we can from states that have not opted in to put pressure on the state to opt in for the next year.”

Residents of states that offer state-level school choice tax credit programs, such as Ohio and Missouri, can make separate donations at the state and federal levels and receive tax credits under both programs, McIntosh explained.

The Center for Christian Virtue launched a campaign Oct. 1 to promote Trump’s Education Freedom Tax Credit and partnership opportunities with CEN.

“America’s public education system is morally and academically failing our children,” Baer said in a statement. “Enough is enough. Thanks to President Trump’s Education Freedom Tax Credit, families across America will be able to escape indoctrination and access a high-quality Christian education.”