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Statement on Supreme Court Agreeing to Hear Oklahoma Case Involving Nation’s First Religious Public Charter School
Bills Legislation and Litigation Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, Education Law Center, and Freedom From Religion Foundation Bills Legislation and Litigation Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, Education Law Center, and Freedom From Religion Foundation

Statement on Supreme Court Agreeing to Hear Oklahoma Case Involving Nation’s First Religious Public Charter School

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, Education Law Center, and Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following statement concerning the petitions for certiorari granted today by the U.S. Supreme Court in Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond. The organizations represent faith leaders, public school parents, and public education advocates in a separate lawsuit to stop Oklahoma from sponsoring and funding St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.

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National Coalition for Public Education Denounces Inclusion of National Private School VoucherProgram in Republican Tax Bill
Bills Legislation and Litigation National Coalition for Public Education Bills Legislation and Litigation National Coalition for Public Education

National Coalition for Public Education Denounces Inclusion of National Private School VoucherProgram in Republican Tax Bill

Today, the House Ways & Means Committee introduced a $20 billion national school voucher program in their “mega bill.” If this bill becomes law, vouchers for private schools would be federally mandated in every state in America, despite the fact these programs have been rejected at the state level each time they’ve been on the ballot – a total of seventeen times.

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Advancement Project Letter Opposing HR-833
Bills Legislation and Litigation Advancement Project Bills Legislation and Litigation Advancement Project

Advancement Project Letter Opposing HR-833

On behalf of Advancement Project and 93 national, state, and grassroots racial justice, education justice, and other civil rights organizations, we write in opposition to H.R. 833 and S. 292, the Educational Choice for Children Act (“ECCA”), which would create a nationwide private school voucher program in the form of a 100% tax break for the wealthy.

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House Tax Bill Enlists the Wealthy to Spread Private School Vouchers
Bills Legislation and Litigation Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) Bills Legislation and Litigation Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

House Tax Bill Enlists the Wealthy to Spread Private School Vouchers

The tax plan moving through the U.S. House of Representatives includes a provision granting extraordinarily generous treatment to nonprofits that give out vouchers for free or reduced tuition at private K-12 schools. While the bill significantly cuts charitable giving incentives overall, nonprofits that commit to focusing solely on supporting private K-12 schools would be spared from those cuts and see their donors’ tax incentive almost triple relative to what they receive today. On top of that, the bill goes out of its way to provide school voucher donors who contribute corporate stock with an extra layer of tax subsidy that works as a lucrative tax shelter. Essentially, the bill allows wealthy individuals to avoid paying capital gains tax as a reward for funneling public funds into private schools.

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Rapidly expanding school voucher programs pinch state budgets
Bills Legislation and Litigation Kevin Hardy Bills Legislation and Litigation Kevin Hardy

Rapidly expanding school voucher programs pinch state budgets

Characterizing vouchers as an “entitlement program,” Hobbs said the state could spend more than $1 billion subsidizing private education in the upcoming fiscal year. The Democratic governor said those expenses could crowd out other budget priorities, including disability programs and pay raises for firefighters and state troopers.

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Even more public money for private schools
Bills Legislation and Litigation Policy Matters Ohio Bills Legislation and Litigation Policy Matters Ohio

Even more public money for private schools

Ohio’s top politicians want to spend an additional $432 million on private school tuition over the next two years, including a new voucher for unregulated religious schools. The House budget proposal, following the direction set by Gov. DeWine’s budget, continues to draw from a voucher playbook that disrupts and diminishes Ohio’s public schools, threatening the vast majority of Ohio children whose families rely on public schools to build their futures.

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Private School Vouchers on the Ballot on Election Day
Bills Legislation and Litigation Public Funds Public Schools Bills Legislation and Litigation Public Funds Public Schools

Private School Vouchers on the Ballot on Election Day

Voucher programs, which divert scarce public resources to private schools, have been repeatedly shown to fund discrimination against students and families, fail to improve student outcomes, and undermine funding and resources for public schools, which serve the vast majority of children. They are also widely unpopular with voters. In fact, every time vouchers have been on the ballot, they have been rejected.

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The People Have Spoken: Private School Vouchers Have A Long Track Record Of Failure At The Ballot Box

The People Have Spoken: Private School Vouchers Have A Long Track Record Of Failure At The Ballot Box

Voters in Arizona in November rejected a plan to expand private-school vouchers in the state by 65 to 35 percent. The lopsided results might have been a surprise to school-voucher boosters, but they shouldn’t have been. Vouchers and other forms of private-school aid plans have been getting trounced at the ballot box since 1967.

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These former senators‘urge Nebraskans to voterepeal on Measure 435’
Bills Legislation and Litigation Greg Adams, Kathy Campbell, Al Davis, Curt Friesen, Mike Gloor, John McCollister, Paul Schumacher, John Stinner, and Matt Williams Bills Legislation and Litigation Greg Adams, Kathy Campbell, Al Davis, Curt Friesen, Mike Gloor, John McCollister, Paul Schumacher, John Stinner, and Matt Williams

These former senators‘urge Nebraskans to voterepeal on Measure 435’

We cannot afford to fund two school systems — both our public system and a private system — especially when one has such little accountability or measurable return on investment. Programs like this have decimated budgets in state after state, and we believe Nebraskans demand more responsible decisions be made with their tax dollars.

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Voters Across the Political Spectrum Gave Public Education Important Wins in the 2024 Election
Bills Legislation and Litigation Jeff Bryant Bills Legislation and Litigation Jeff Bryant

Voters Across the Political Spectrum Gave Public Education Important Wins in the 2024 Election

School voucher programs, elaborate schemes that give parents taxpayer money to fund their children’s private school tuition, had an especially bad day at the ballot box. Voters rejected these schemes despite their popularity with Trump, who many experts say will likely make a federal voucher program a priority in his upcoming administration.

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Oppose $20 Billion Federal Private School Voucher Program
Bills Legislation and Litigation National Coalition for Public Education Bills Legislation and Litigation National Coalition for Public Education

Oppose $20 Billion Federal Private School Voucher Program

House Republican leadership want to include a $20 billion private school voucher program in the 2025 tax-reconciliation bill. Known as the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2024 (H.R. 9462 in the 118th Congress), it would give away $5 billion per year for each of the next four years of federal taxpayer dollars to fund private school vouchers. Instead of directing resources to the public schools that 90% of American children attend, vouchers divert critical federal dollars to students already attending private schools and to schools that can cherry pick which students they want to educate.

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A Supreme Court Decision on Oklahoma Catholic Charter School Case Could Transform Public Education in Pennsylvania, and Across the Country - Bucks County Beacon
Bills Legislation and Litigation Peter Greene Bills Legislation and Litigation Peter Greene

A Supreme Court Decision on Oklahoma Catholic Charter School Case Could Transform Public Education in Pennsylvania, and Across the Country - Bucks County Beacon

Oklahoma officials have petitioned the Supreme Court to hear an appeal on a case that challenges the nation’s first taxpayer-funded religious charter school. Should SCOTUS agree to hear the case and then decide in favor of the school, it could change how we do public education in Pennsylvania and the rest of this country.

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Voucher Boondoggle: House Advances Plan to Give the Wealthy $1.20 for Every $1 They Steer to Private K-12 Schools

Voucher Boondoggle: House Advances Plan to Give the Wealthy $1.20 for Every $1 They Steer to Private K-12 Schools

While there was never any question as to whether the committee’s majority supported private school vouchers, this is the first time they have gone on the record specifically endorsing the kind of profitable tax shelter embedded in many voucher programs. As we learned yesterday, most of the House Ways & Means Committee is content to facilitate new forms of wasteful tax avoidance if doing so aids the cause of funneling more public resources into private K-12 schools.

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Kentucky Voters Buried Private School Vouchers. One More Idea Must Die to Truly Reinvest in Our Public Schools
Bills Legislation and Litigation Jason Bailey Bills Legislation and Litigation Jason Bailey

Kentucky Voters Buried Private School Vouchers. One More Idea Must Die to Truly Reinvest in Our Public Schools

Despite the best efforts of anti-public school activists and the deep pockets of out-of-state billionaires, Kentucky voters resoundingly defeated the proposed constitutional amendment allowing public dollars to be diverted to private schools. The amendment was rejected in all 120 Kentucky counties and at the hands of a unique bipartisan coalition of rural, urban and suburban voters.

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