Multiple Choice: Expanding School Choice with Education Scholarships with Lauren May | GSVtv Podcast

Summary

ASU+GSV Summit Sessions: Multiple Choice—Expanding School Choice with Education Scholarships
Guest: Lauren May (Vice President, Step Up A Step Further)
Host: Electra Frelinghuzen (GSV)
Date: July 17, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This episode, recorded live at the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, delves into the expanding landscape of school choice in the United States, focusing on the transformative impact of education scholarships. Electra Frelinghuzen interviews Lauren May, an expert in education policy and vice president of a scholarship granting organization. The discussion centers on the new federal education tax credit, the role of technology in increasing access and efficiency, the evolving vision for personalized education, and the practical challenges faced by scholarship programs.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Federal Education Tax Credit: Game Changer for School Choice

[00:26–01:40]

• What is it?
  The federal education tax credit, recently signed into law, allows taxpayers to donate to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs), which then distribute scholarships to eligible students in both public and private schools.
• Impact:
  • Empowers families nationwide with more options for K–12 education.
  • Facilitates "stacking" scholarships (i.e., combining the new scholarship with existing state-based ones).
  • Provides aid not only for tuition but also for tutoring, books, therapy, and transportation.

Notable Quote:

"Kids all across America will now have access to school choice or to a scholarship ... those students will be able to have a second scholarship to stack on top of the first." — Lauren May [00:41]

---

2. Eligibility and Reaching Underserved Communities

[01:40–02:34]

• Eligibility Criteria:
  • State governor must opt into the program.
  • Family must be at or below 300% of the area median income (approx. 90% of students expected to qualify).
• Outreach Challenges:
  • Ensuring all families—especially hard-to-reach and lower-income groups—are aware of the opportunity.

Notable Quote:

"Our governor in Florida has done that. About 26, I believe that last count, 26 or 27 governors have said yes and opted in... We expect about 90% of kids to be eligible for the scholarship." — Lauren May [01:50]

---

3. Technology as an Enabler

[02:35–04:25]

• Digital Transformation:
  • Step Up for Students has evolved from paper-based to fully online and mobile-friendly scholarship applications.
  • Dramatic reduction in turnaround time: applications can be processed in minutes.
• Equity in Access:
  • Mobile access is vital for low-income families.
  • Seamless processes and quick notifications benefit families and providers alike.

Notable Quote:

"Now it's so easy...all you do is take a picture of your driver's license, take a picture of your utility bill, and you're done. We're processing applications now really in as quickly as a couple of minutes, which I think is really exciting for the families..." — Lauren May [03:06]

• Electra reflects from her time as a public school teacher, emphasizing the old difficulties with paper forms [04:25].

---

4. The Vision: Personalized and Diverse Learning Pathways

[04:26–06:10]

• Future Trends:
  • Move toward "a la carte" learning—homeschooling, micro schools, enrichment classes, and creative learning environments like LEGO classes or farm schools.
  • Traditional schools are differentiating instruction to meet a range of student needs and learning styles.
  • School choice is fostering healthy competition, benefitting both public and private schools.

Notable Quote:

"We're at a point where people are realizing that you don't have to be in a one size fits all education...What we're seeing in Florida is lots of our parents are participating in what we like to call a la carte learning." — Lauren May [04:47]

• Improved public schools due to increased competition:

  "Since we've initiated school choice, our public schools have improved exponentially...we have a really great competition in our state." — Lauren May [05:41]

---

5. Ongoing Challenges and Opportunities for Improvement

[06:10–07:10]

• Biggest Challenge:
  • Raising awareness among families remains the toughest hurdle.
• Operational Excellence:
  • Importance of swift payments to providers—schools are paid within three business days, supporting timely teacher payrolls.
  • Behind-the-scenes tech innovation ensures seamless money flow from parent application to provider payment.

Notable Quote:

"We also want to make sure that our providers, that is our schools, our therapists, our tutors are getting paid really quickly...we're paying our schools within three business days, which is faster than most banks." — Lauren May [06:38]

---

Memorable Moments

• The transition from cumbersome, paper-based processes to a nearly instantaneous, digital user experience was highlighted as life changing for families [03:06].
• Lauren’s vivid description of Florida’s “a la carte learning” ecosystem painted a hopeful future for education [04:47].
• The acknowledgment that competition via school choice has spurred public school improvement reframes the debate beyond private vs. public [05:41].
• The logistics and tech “behind the scenes” making scholarships work (“from the time a parent logs in until ... payment in their digital wallet”) spotlighted the infrastructure often overlooked in conversations on education reform [06:55].

---

Key Timestamps

• Federal tax credit basics: [00:26–01:40]
• Eligibility & outreach: [01:40–02:34]
• Technology transformation in applications: [02:35–04:25]
• Future vision/personalized learning: [04:26–06:10]
• Challenges in outreach & payment systems: [06:10–07:10]

---

This episode provides a comprehensive look at the future of school choice, powered by federal policy, empowered by innovative technology, and inspired by a vision of personalized education for every child.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign. Hi, everyone.

[B]

I'm Electra Frelinghuzen from gsv and I'm joined by Lauren May. Lauren May serves as the vice president of Step Up A Step Further, a scholarship granting organization. She has experience as a Catholic school principal in Florida and director of advocacy at Step up for Students.

[A]

Hey, look, great to be with you. Thanks for having me.

[B]

So I want to start out by asking you about some major policy changes that will be coming in 2027. So what is the federal education tax credit and how is this going to impact students, families, schools?

[A]

So the federal education tax credit is so exciting because it's a new bill that was signed into law last July, and it allows taxpayers to donate to a scholarship granting organization. And after they make a donation, the scholarship granting organizations will turn those donations into scholarships for kids. And so kids all across America will now have access to school choice or to a scholarship, depending, because kids in public school are eligible or kids in private school. So what's really exciting to me, in Florida, we have about 550,000 kids using a scholarship right now, which is amazing. And so now those students will be able to have a second scholarship to stack on top of the first. If they have the first one, or if they're in public school, they can get a scholarship to help them pay for tutoring or books or therapy or transportation, lots of other eligible items. So we're really excited to see how it's going to help kids all across our state and across the nation.

[B]

And you mentioned eligibility, so I want to jump into that. What students are eligible for this scholarship? And then how do you reach the harder to reach families?

[A]

Oh, that's a great question. So the students that are eligible are students that live in a state whose governor has opted in. So the governors have to say, yes, I want to participate in this program and I want the children in my state to have access to these scholarships. So that's the first step. So our governor in Florida has done that. About 26, I believe that last count, 26 or 27 governors have said yes and opted in. So we hope all governors will opt in soon. And then you have to be 300% or below the area median income. So you would go to HUD housing. And you can see how much money you can make. But it's, it's a relatively good amount of money. We expect about 90% of kids to be eligible for the scholarship.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay, so my next question, I think sort of relates to the, to the theme of a lot of conversations that we're having at Summit this year, which is about AI and technology. So we're thinking a lot about how AI and technology are transforming both how instruction is delivered as well as the infrastructure behind a lot of these school choice programs. So where are you seeing technology make the biggest difference and where do you think that the potential is still untapped?

[A]

That's a really good question. So Step up for Students has been around for over 20 years. It's our 25th anniversary this year actually serving students in the state of Florida. So we went from taking paper applications for the scholarships in Florida to now doing everything online and even from your phone, which is amazing. I used to work at a school where our students were primarily low income families. All of our students qualified for free and reduced lunch. And helping them through the application process before it went mobile, before everybody had a cell phone, was really challenging. And now it's so easy when you have to upload your proof of residency, all you do is take a picture of your driver's license, take a picture of your utility bill, and you're done. Which makes it really great. And then our systems can process that really quickly. We're processing applications now really in as quickly as a couple of minutes, which I think is really exciting for the families and it's really exciting for the movement because families are really, they need this money to help their child get the best education that they can, whether it be for tutoring or for a private school school or any kind of other options that are available. And so I think it's really cool to see how quickly we can turn around and answer for them. And sometimes that will change a kid's life. A lot of times it changes a kid's life, which is the most exciting. That's why I love working here.

[B]

Incredible. And I used to be a public school teacher, so I remember how difficult it can be to get the paper forms back and figure out all of that. So my last question for you is more big picture. What's your vision for the next five to 10 years? How do you think that this space will evolve? What do you see changing? Where do you see this all going?

[A]

That's a really good question. I am so excited to be in the education space right now because I think we're at a big turning point. We're at a point where people are realizing that you don't have to be in a one size fits all education. You can actually learn differently even in one classroom, but definitely outside of the classroom. What we're seeing in Florida is lots of Our parents are participating in what we like to call a la carte learning, meaning they might homeschool their child, but they might go to a micro school three days a week. They might go to the LEGO store twice a week and have a LEGO class. They might go to a farm and do a class at the farm. And there's all these different ways that kids are learning, and I'm seeing so such great, amazing growth in those kids. And then what we're seeing in our more traditional private school settings is that they're differentiating the instruction so that every kid is learning. They're not just teaching to the middle or teaching to the lowest Lexile students. They're teaching to everybody. And that's what we're also seeing in our public schools. So in Florida, since we've initiated school choice, our public schools have improved exponentially. And we believe that's because we have a really great competition in our state. Our public schools are doing really well, our private schools, and our parents who choose to homeschool. So what I look forward to is seeing every kid have the education that meets their needs, whatever that may be.

[B]

Awesome. Can I add one more question? And I know that was the last one. What, in your experience, what are sort of the most challenging aspects of this? Or, like, you know, if you could wave a magic wand to fix something tomorrow, what would it be?

[A]

I would say probably one of the bigger challenges is just getting the word out about the program. And so that's something that we really invest a lot of time and money and effort in in our state, is making sure all families are aware. And then we also want to make sure that our providers, that is our schools, our therapists, our tutors are getting paid really quickly. And so I'm really excited to share that we're paying our schools within three business days, which is faster than most banks. And we know that's really important because that's how they pay their teachers. So that part of the equation is super important. And we have an amazing team behind the scenes making sure all of the technology is working from the time a parent logs in until the time they receive their payment in their digital wallet, and then that money goes out to a vendor or a provider. So that's what I love to see is the whole picture. And I think we're going to continue to see more innovation in those areas. And I'm excited to see the doors that are going to open for students all across the country.

[B]

Awesome. Yeah. I think the piece that's so interesting to me is that there's this, you know, sort of visionary piece of it that's like, classroom instruction. And then there's so much that goes

[A]

on behind the scenes.

[B]

The infrastructure to make, you know, this all happen. Thank you so much for being here.

[A]

Yeah, it's great to be here. Talk soon.

[B]

Yeah, we will. Thank you.