Massachusetts is facing shortfalls after an extended binge on tax dollars. The AP reports today that some school districts are cutting grants for full-day kindergarten to save money, but that’s pocket change compared to what they could save with a serious school choice program.

School choice, especially bipartisan and increasingly successful education tax credits, can save states billions of dollars according to a fiscal analysis by the Cato Institute. New York could save more than $6 billion over the first five years alone, while Illinois could save more than $3 billion and South Carolina more than $400 million. And even the small programs already up and running saved taxpayers more than $444 million between 1990 and 2006 even though most of the programs began at the end of the 1990s or later and were small and restricted.

These huge savings should come as no surprise considering that the median full tuition paid at U.S. private schools is just $4,000, compared to an average of about $13,000 per student in public schools. Massachusetts spends more than $13,500 per student every year.

School choice saves money and children. Massachusetts can’t afford not to have education tax credits.