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Public Funds Public Schools 8/25/25 Public Funds Public Schools 8/25/25

Federal Voucher Program – FAQs

The expansion of private school vouchers through the inclusion of a federal voucher scheme in the budget reconciliation bill passed in July is part of a broader assault on public education designed to privatize one of the most important common goods underpinning American democracy. Opting in to the federal program (the state’s choice), even to use voucher money for public education students, broadly endangers public education and opens the door to further voucher expansion, whether vouchers are already available in a given state or not.

Illinois Families for Public Schools 8/25/25 Illinois Families for Public Schools 8/25/25

Big Ugly Bill Implications for Our Public Schools

These slides summarize the impact of the national voucher program and cuts to SNAP/Medicaid in the Trump administration's budget reconciliation bill.

Public Funds Public Schools 8/21/25 Public Funds Public Schools 8/21/25

States Must Reject Harmful Voucher Program

The federal voucher program contained in the budget reconciliation bill passed in early July will divert federal tax dollars from the U.S. Treasury and from services, including public education, that Americans rely on, to give to private and religious schools that pick and choose whom they educate and openly discriminate against some students and families.

Bella DiMarco 8/21/25 Bella DiMarco 8/21/25

Directional Signals: A New Analysis of the Evolving Private School Choice Landscape

Three years ago, Arizona became the first state to allow all students—regardless of income or need—to use public dollars for private school tuition and other educational expenses. The move marked a sweeping shift in the scale and scope of school choice in the United States.

Senator Mazie Hirono 8/21/25 Senator Mazie Hirono 8/21/25

Scamming Our Schools: Robbing Our Students’ Futures to Line Their Pockets

Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) led a spotlight forum focused on the harmful consequences the Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill” will have on students, parents, teachers, and schools across the country. Specifically, the forum highlights the school voucher-related provisions from the bill, which would divert billions of dollars in taxpayer funding to create the first ever national school voucher program.

American Federation for Teachers and the National Coalition for Public Education 8/21/25 American Federation for Teachers and the National Coalition for Public Education 8/21/25

Parents and Allies Oppose National Private School Voucher Program

Policymakers join parents, students, educators and allies to discuss how the national private school voucher program in the budget reconciliation bill would shift resources from public schools to wealthy people and private schools.

Peter Greene 8/21/25 Peter Greene 8/21/25

The GOP House Budget Bill Also Takes Aim at Public Education with Its Private School Voucher Scheme

The GOP’s Trump-backed “big, beautiful bill” has passed out of the House of Representatives, and taxpayers are rightfully giving lots of attention to features like the slashing of Medicaid and tax cuts for the wealthy. But buried within the bill is language that would create federal education private school vouchers and provide a tax dodge for the wealthy while eroding the public school system in favor of taxpayer-subsidized discrimination.

Hilary Wething 7/22/25 Hilary Wething 7/22/25

The five-alarm fire that public education is facing

All children deserve to attend welcoming and well-funded schools where they can learn and grow, regardless of race, disability, or income. But funding for public schools, where nearly 90% of all U.S. students learn, is at a near crisis point. The Trump administration’s goals, which are taken right out of Project 2025, seem to be to defund public education to the point that it doesn’t work, then offer private school vouchers as a solution to a manufactured problem. In this post, we highlight five ways public education is on fire in the United States and the damage this will do to students’ abilities to learn and thrive. Instead of cutting funds, lawmakers should invest in public schools, one of the best tools we still have to build a prosperous, equitable country.

Honesty for Ohio Education 7/22/25 Honesty for Ohio Education 7/22/25

Public Funds Belong in Public Schools

High-quality public schools are a common good that serve as the bedrock of a high-functioning, multiracial democracy. Yet across Ohio, lawmakers are prioritizing the interests of wealthy donors over the needs of the 10.6 million students who attend public school. Public Funds Belong in Public Schools is a toolkit created for everyday Ohioans who want to stand up for public education and push back against the expansion of private school vouchers.

National Education Policy Center and Joshua Cowen 7/22/25 National Education Policy Center and Joshua Cowen 7/22/25

About That Urban Institute Voucher Study: Q&A With Josh Cowen

The Urban Institute released a report on April 22nd that has been gaining excessive attention among advocates of private-school vouchers. In the Q&A below, National Education Policy Center director Kevin Welner asks Josh Cowen of Michigan State University to help us un- derstand that study and why there has been so much interest among folks who have other- wise been shielding their eyes from recent voucher research. Prof. Cowen was lead author of a similar study published in 2013, so we thought he would be the ideal person to comment on this new one. Cowen is the author of the 2024 book, The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers (Harvard Education Press).

Erica Meltzer 7/22/25 Erica Meltzer 7/22/25

Congress usually snubs private school choice expansion. Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ embraces it.

A big Republican budget bill in Congress would establish a nationwide, federal school choice program — a potential political breakthrough that conservative lawmakers and advocates have discussed for years but which has consistently stalled.

Joshua Cowen 7/22/25 Joshua Cowen 7/22/25

The Private Eye

Researcher Josh Cowen has developed a newsletter alongside Public Funds Public Schools on school vouchers and right-wing politics.

Public Funds Public Schools and Advancement Project 7/22/25 Public Funds Public Schools and Advancement Project 7/22/25

Save Neighborhood Schools – Say No to Private School Vouchers!

Public schools welcome and serve all children in local communities for free. They provide vital access to education and services for the whole community. They teach children and young people the fundamentals of civic engagement and provide special education services, adult role models, and extracurricular activities. Local public schools also contribute to vibrant communities by providing gathering spaces, polling places, hometown sports teams, and locations to hold adult education classes, health clinics, and other needed services.

Public Funds Public Schools 1/24/25 Public Funds Public Schools 1/24/25

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.

Hilary Wething 1/24/25 Hilary Wething 1/24/25

How vouchers harm public schools

The growing popularity of vouchers raises a host of crucial questions and concerns. Key to informing the debate are questions of public finance and education quality. Is allowing public money to leave the public school system and follow kids to private schools the most effective or equitable way to make sure every child has access to an excellent education? Our view is that it’s not. Public dollars allocated to education should go to boosting spending in public systems, not subsidizing private education.

Eli Hager 1/24/25 Eli Hager 1/24/25

Failing charter school closed by Az regulators reopened as a taxpayer-funded private religious school

Arizona does no vetting of new voucher schools. Not even if the school or the online school “provider” has already failed, or was founded yesterday, or is operating out of a strip mall or a living room or a garage, or offers just a half hour of instruction per morning. (If you’re an individual tutor in Arizona, all you need in order to register to start accepting voucher cash is a high school diploma.)

National Coalition for Public Education 1/24/25 National Coalition for Public Education 1/24/25

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.

EdTrust 1/24/25 EdTrust 1/24/25

Protect Public Schools: An Advocacy Toolkit to Fight School Voucher Programs

School voucher programs and their many iterations (education savings accounts, tax credits, etc.) drain funds from public schools while disproportionately harming Black and Brown students from low-income backgrounds and students with disabilities. This toolkit provides the resources and information communities need to launch effective advocacy campaigns against school voucher programs in their state.

Public Funds Public Schools and Joshua Cowen 1/24/25 Public Funds Public Schools and Joshua Cowen 1/24/25

A Conversation with ELC Senior Fellow Josh Cowen, Author of The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers (October 2024):

This PFPS webinar features Dr. Josh Cowen, Education Law Center Senior Fellow and professor of education policy at Michigan State University, in conversation with Maria Bautista of the NYU Metro Center about his new book, The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold Vouchers. The book provides a deep-dive investigation into education privatization covering a range of topics, including the origins of private school vouchers and the network of billionaire conservatives who have converged around the issue. It also highlights how vouchers are failing students and exacerbating income inequality, arguing that the advancement of privatization policies is an assault on public education as a defining American institution.

Public Funds Public Schools 1/24/25 Public Funds Public Schools 1/24/25

How to Fight Vouchers in 2025: A Toolkit for Advocates

This PFPS webinar featured ELC Senior Fellow Josh Cowen, Nicole Fuller from the National Coalition for Public Education, and speakers from PFPS/ELC who shared information, resources, tools, and tips to help advocates prepare for crucial state and federal legislative fights over private school voucher programs in 2025.

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