In the latest episode of the Defense of Freedom Institute’s Freedom to Learn podcast, CSF President and CEO Darla Romfo speaks with host Virginia Gentles, covering everything from how Ted Forstmann and John Walton founded Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF) in 1998 to how CSF is preparing for the recently passed Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC). Under the FSTC, starting on January 1, 2027, eligible individual taxpayers can claim a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to approved K-12 scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) like CSF and its partner programs nationwide.
Throughout the interview, Darla emphasized CSF’s continued focus on giving children access to a better education and honoring parents as their children’s first educators, saying, “Parents [not the government] are our ‘customers,’ and the kids are the whole reason we do this.”
Darla also spoke about CSF’s ongoing role as a connector and catalyst for the education freedom movement, noting that CSF “always provided a proof point of what these programs can do and also what really worked in terms of the scholarship granting organization. …[Y]ou can see CSF’s DNA in a lot of these different programs around the country. Now the potential for what could happen with the federal tax credit, it’s really kind of mind blowing – and if John and Ted could see that, they would be so amazed.”
We’re very grateful to the Defense of Freedom Institute for highlighting Children’s Scholarship Fund on its podcast. You can find the full interview and previous episodes of Freedom to Learn here.