A Conservative Argument Against Federal School Vouchers
Federal dollars create a mechanism for control
Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” included some big, ugly school vouchers.
The plan creates another layer of funding to facilitate “school choice,” meaning taxpayer funds are being used to prop up private schools.
And, even some conservatives are raising concerns.
This piece from the Carolina Journal suggests federal vouchers will ultimately become a tool for federal control.
Under the tax-credit scholarship program included in the OBBBA, individuals in eligible states can donate to scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs) to claim a dollar-for-dollar federal income tax credit of up to $1,700. These SGOs must then use at least 90% of the funds on scholarships for K-12 students from low and middle-income households meant to cover a wide range of educational expenses, like private school tuition, homeschooling supplies, tutoring, books etc.
Though attractive on the surface, this generous credit effectively removes the burden of K-12 funding from the state and transfers it to private SGOs. This undermines states like North Carolina, who did the difficult work of reforming their education funding model to ensure dollars follow the student.
To put it succinctly:
As we saw in the last administration, given enough leverage, the federal government will always try to turn funding into a cudgel to promote its social policy goals.
And an example from the Trump Administration:
Trump, following this precedent, is currently doing the same in Northern Virginia, where he is threatening to terminate federal funding over transgender policies. No matter your leanings, we all eventually lose by way of granting the federal government more power over our education issues that are best solved by local school boards.
Trump’s voucher scheme redirects taxpayer funds to private schools at the same time his proposed budget includes billions of dollars in cuts to programs that support local public schools.
Trump and his billionaire buddies want to eliminate $4.4 billion for dozens of programs, like:
Programs that support English language learners ($890 million)
Teacher recruitment and training ($220 million)
College access and preparation ($1.6 billion)
Adult education ($729 million)
Community schools ($150 million)
Education of children in families that work seasonal agricultural jobs ($428 million)
Civil rights enforcement ($49 million), and more
They also want to cut $4.5 billion from funds for afterschool and summer programs, technology and digital literacy, mental health services, rural schools, literacy instruction, new teacher training, emergency preparedness, magnet schools, services for unhoused children, arts education, American history and civics education, family engagement and more.