The Dangers of Federal School Vouchers

Big, Beautiful Bill included big, terrible voucher scheme

Photo by Cameron Smith on Unsplash

The Trump Administration has been a non-stop assault on America’s public institutions. Public schools are no exception.

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” included a big, terrible federal school voucher scheme.

Is Your State Likely to Opt-In to Trump's "Big, Ugly Vouchers?"

The cost of the scheme is expected to exceed $20 billion.

But it only provides vouchers in states that opt in.

Robert Kim of the Education Law Center writes that opting-in poses risks to state public education - from both a funding and student outcomes perspective.

Any claim that allowing public tax dollars to be redirected to school vouchers is “about putting students first,” as Duncan and Elzora say, is counterfactual. Students taking vouchers have worse educational outcomes. Private schools receiving public money are free to discriminate against students on the basis of race, ability, and/or LGBTQ+ identity. And waste, fraud, and abuse have always gone hand-in-hand with private school vouchers.

In their FAQ on the federal voucher scheme, Education Law Center points out:

Are these actually federal vouchers?

• YES. This is a federal voucher program. Vouchers pay for a student’s private school tuition and other private education expenses using public funds, and this program is no different.

• Voucher schemes have many different names, such as “tax credits” and “scholarships,” and different mechanisms for diverting funds to private schools. The shapeshifting and renaming of voucher programs are arguably deliberate strategies by their promoters to obscure their true nature and to try to avoid legal challenges, negative policy connotations, and community opposition.

• These federal vouchers divert public funds to private education uses, with all the attendant harms, and they must be recognized as such, even if it may be possible to use the voucher money for public school students.

And, a nice summary explaining why state policymakers should oppose a federal voucher opt-in:

All vouchers harm students and undermine public education, and the federal voucher law is no different:

o Vouchers divert public funds to private schools.

o Vouchers lead to worse educational outcomes for students.

o Vouchers put students’ civil rights at risk.

o Vouchers lack quality and accountability standards and encourage fraud and abuse.

• The federal voucher program will subsidize the wealthy at the expense of public school students and taxpayers.

• Opting in to the federal voucher program sets a dangerous precedent and creates a slippery slope. Experience from state voucher programs shows that once a voucher program is instituted, it inevitably balloons in size and cost.

• Private education vouchers are wildly unpopular with voters. Every single time vouchers have been put to voters in red, blue, and purple states, they’ve been defeated at the ballot box.