Will Kentuckians Vote "Yes" for a $199 Million New Tax?
Will Kentuckians Vote "Yes" for a $199 Million New Tax?
Study explores costs of proposed voucher plan
If Kentucky voters want to assume a new tax obligation expected to cost $199 million at its start (and to balloon from there), they should vote “Yes” on Amendment 2.
Peter Greene breaks down the results of a study by a Bluegrass State think tank that examines the potential impact of school vouchers on the Commonwealth.
“Even a modest program would cost the state $199 million . . . This is before the inevitable ballooning of the program. Arizona, on the forefront of universal vouchers is also on the forefront of having their budget slammed by a voucher program. ProPublica has just released a report showing that vouchers are about to force ‘hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state programs and projects.’”
Vouchers would essentially create a second school system in Kentucky - one that is very expensive and drains resources from local public schools.
Bryant notes that in Arizona, the voucher plan may cost taxpayers up to $1 billion and a universal program in Florida could require $4 billion.
Even with potential reduced costs for local schools, there are still fixed costs - operating buildings, providing transportation. Meaning a cost of $500 million in NEW money in Arizona and $2 billion in Florida.
A proposal to create a universal voucher program in Tennessee is estimated to cost $140 million in year one and more than $700 million once fully implemented.
Speaking of Tennessee, results from that state’s voucher program suggest it is not helping student achievement.
The Tennessee Department of Education reported that students who took vouchers in the pilot program “performed lower than their public school peers in the same county and below the statewide average.”
Students entered the program with average English Language Arts test scores at 55% and after one year, had average scores of 50% - they lost ground in a big way.
A study of vouchers in Louisiana found:
Public elementary school students who started at the 50th percentile in math and then used a voucher to transfer to a private school dropped to the 26th percentile in a single year. Results were somewhat better in the second year, but were still well below the starting point.
Vouchers don’t help kids - in fact, in terms of academic achievement, they can be harmful.
And they cost a lot. A new school system with a starting cost of nearly $200 million and a cost that seems likely to balloon into the future, eating into funds currently spent on public education and other state priorities.
Kentucky voters should reject a plan that would have them spending big money for a program that will likely harm its children.