The tax plan unveiled by House Republicans on Thursday permits the use of previously off-limits education savings accounts for tuition at K-12 private schools, though it stops short of allowing states to create a scholarship tax credit or voucher to help cover private school tuition – originally one of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ top priorities in her school choice agenda.

Along with allowing up to $10,000 from 529 savings accounts – currently reserved for college-related expenses – to be used by private school students in kindergarten through 12th grade, the plan includes a handful of other provisions that stand to impact the education arena.

For example, the plan would no longer allow borrowers to deduct interest paid on their student loans.

In addition, the proposal would repeal tax-code language allowing employers to establish programs that provide reimbursement to their employees for education expenses like tuition. Through such education assistance programs, employees can exclude from their taxable income up to $5,250 per year that's used for educational expenses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, employers often offer educational assistance programs in efforts to improve recruitment and retention, and to help maintain a skilled workforce.

“I was surprised,” Kathleen Coulombe, a senior adviser for government relations at the society, says of the provision. “The section has enjoyed bipartisan support. It always has.”

In recent years, Coulombe and her colleagues have pushed not only to increase the dollar figure for the reimbursement, but also to allow employees’ student loan debt to fall under such programs – ideas she says have garnered support on both sides of the aisle as well.

“Our members use this as a way to recruit and retain top talent, but also to retrain and reskill the current workforce,” Coulombe says. “At a time when you’re talking about skills issues and shortage of skills, this is something employers can do in-house to really compete in the global economy.”

In an effort to get out ahead of criticism that the tax plan would eliminate education tax benefits and make it more difficult for Americans to afford the cost of education, the House Ways and Means Committee released a briefing detailing why that’s not the case.

“Quite the opposite,” the briefing states.

Instead, the background briefing argues, the tax plan “makes it easier for families to use tax benefits toward the cost of education,” underscoring that the current tax code includes "more than a dozen overlapping tax benefits relating to education – all with their own rules and guidelines."

“By simplifying and enhancing these benefits into a more effective higher education tax credit, our legislation will help more families offset the cost of both college and vocational training programs,” the briefing argues.

Also on the higher education front, the proposal includes a 1.4 percent excise tax on the investment income of many private colleges and universities, meaning it takes aim at schools’ prized endowments. And campus officials already have begun pushing back against the measure.

"Any dollars that would be swept up ... through a new mandate on endowments would be fewer dollars those institutions could use toward students," Steven Bloom, director of government relations at the American Council on Education, told Politico.

One of the major battles forthcoming on the tax package additionally could have an impact on the available resources for schools, according to some education organizations.

The current tax code's state and local tax deduction, sometimes called the SALT deduction, is claimed by more than 44 million taxpayers, allowing them to deduct payments made for state and local taxes and thus providing an indirect federal subsidy to state and local governments.

As the Tax Policy Center explains, the deduction encourages state and local governments to levy higher taxes. And that connects to K-12 education, as up to 90 percent of school budgets are funded by state and local governments.

GOP lawmakers have considered completely eliminating the deduction, and some education groups worry doing so would undermine funding for state and local governments and, as a result, reduce the resources available for public schools. Last week, national education groups representing superintendents, school boards, school business professionals, rural schools and communities, and educational service agencies issued a joint statement opposing the SALT elimination.

“The SALT revenue is invested in local communities to fund vital needs including infrastructure, public safety, homeownership and public schools, which educate almost 90 percent of students in our country,” they wrote. “State and local tax deductions ensure a stable local tax base that public schools rely on to educate students and provide needed services, such as health care and related needs. The current proposal to eliminate the SALT deduction as part of broader tax reform would cripple this ability and damage state and local economies.”