ALL RESOURCES
FILTER BY TAG
Select a tag
- Academic performance
- Accessibility
- Accountability
- Advocacy
- Advocates
- Article
- Bill analysis
- Bill tracker
- Billionaires
- Blog post
- Civil rights
- Coalition building
- Community Schools
- Cost impact analysis
- Dark Money
- Data
- Disability
- Discrimination
- Drain funds from public education
- Education Savings Account (ESA)
- English language learners
- Fact sheet
- Fraud Waste and Abuse
- Graphic
- History
- Indigenous and Native Education
- Integration
- LGBTQ+
- Legislation
- Letter
- Litigation
- Messaging or talking points
- Model legislation
- National Voucher
- News
- Parents
- Personal narrative
- Podcast
- Policy brief
- Policymakers
- Radio
- Referendum
- Religion
- Report
- Rural communities
- Segregation
- Separation of church and state
- Slides
- State Constitutional Right to Education
- Students
FILTER BY AUTHOR
Select an author
- Aaron Sanderford
- Advancement Project
- Alec MacGillis
- Allen Pratt
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, Education Law Center, and Freedom From Religion Foundation
- Associated Press
- Beth Lewis and Damaris Allen
- Bob Peterson
- Bruce Schreiner
- Carl Davis
- Casey Tolan, Rene Marsh and Nelli Black,
- Catherine Caruso
- CREED and HEAL NC
- Cyrus Driver and Mary Gonzalez
- Damaris Allen
- David Montgomery
- David Pepper
- Derek W. Black
- Diane Ravitch
- Donald Cohen
- EdTrust
- Education Law Center Pennsylvania
- Education Voters of Pennsylvania
- Eli Hager
- Emily Walkenhorst
- Erica Meltzer
- Ethan Dewitt
- Families for Strong Public Schools
- Florida Policy Institute
- Florida Policy Institute and the Education Law Center
- Geoff Mulvihill
- Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
- Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov. Andy Beshear
- Grand Canyon Institute
- Greg Adams, Kathy Campbell, Al Davis, Curt Friesen, Mike Gloor, John McCollister, Paul Schumacher, John Stinner, and Matt Williams
- Griffin Coop and Benjamin Hardy
- Hilary Wething
- Hilary Wething and Josh Bivens
- Honesty for Ohio Education
- Howard Fischer
- Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy
- IDRA
- Illinois Families for Public Schools
- In the Public Interest
- Indiana Coalition for Public Education
- Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)
- Jamie Klinenberg, Jon Valant, and Nicolas Zerbino
- Jasmine Bolton and April Callen
- Jason Bailey
- Jason Bailey, Dustin Pugel, Joanna LeFebvre, and Pam Thomas
- Jeff Bryant
- Jennifer Berkshire
- Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider
- Jennifer Berry Hawes and Mollie Simon
- Jessica Corbett
- Jim Collier
- Joanna LeFebvre
- Joe Dana
- Jon Valant and Nicolas Zerbino
- Joshua Cowen
- Juan Perez Jr.
- Kevin Hardy
- Kevin Welner
- Kiera Butler
- Kris Nordstrom
- Kris Nordstrom, Phyllis Nunn
- Laura Pappano
- Laura Meckler and Michelle Boorstein
- Liam Amick
- Liz Canada
- Maurice Cunnningham
- Michelle Harven
- Missouri Budget Project
- National Coalition for Public Education
- National Education Association
- National Education Policy Center
- National Education Policy Center and Joshua Cowen
- Network for Public Education
- New Jersey and National Organizations
- Nicole Stelle Garnett
- Nora De La Cour
- North Carolina Justice Center
- OpenSky Policy Institute
- Paige Masten
- Parents for Public Schools
- Pastors for Texas Children
- Patrick Darrington
- Paul Hammel
- Peter Greene
- Phil Williams
- Phoebe Petrovic
- Policy Matters Ohio
- Preston Green/Kevin Welner
- Public Funds Public Schools
- Public Funds Public Schools and Advancement Project
- Public Funds Public Schools and Education Law Center
- Public Funds Public Schools and Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy
- Public Funds Public Schools and Joshua Cowen
- Public Funds Public Schools, Education Law Center, Southern Poverty Law Center
- Public School Forum of North Carolina
- Rebecca Clarren
- Reg Ballantyne
- Rob Boston
- Robert Huber
- Rowan Moore Geretsy
- Sam Stockard
- Sasha Pudelski
- Save Our Schools Arizona
- Scott Ploof
- Sherri Jones
- Southern Education Foundation
- State Rep. Glenn Rogers
- Stephen Caruso, Angela Couloumbis, and Katie Meyer
- Steve Suitts
- Support Our Schools Nebraska
- The Parents' Campaign Research and Education Fund
- Up North Podcast
- Wisconsin Public Education Network
- Yesica Balderrama
- Zack Carreon, WVXU, Kendall Crawford
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.
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.
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).
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.
The Private Eye
Researcher Josh Cowen has developed a newsletter alongside Public Funds Public Schools on school vouchers and right-wing politics.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Anti-Voucher Victories in 2024: A Conversation with Education Advocates from MS, NJ, ID, TX and TN
Although private school voucher programs continue to spread across the country, many states have remained voucher-free or held off significant expansions. In this webinar experienced advocates discussed the work of their organizations and numerous allies to oppose voucher legislation. They offered insight, strategies, and tips for others working against school privatization in their states, with plenty of time for Q&A.
The Impact of Diverting Public Money to Private School Vouchers in Kentucky
The Kentucky General Assembly enacted a private school voucher program in 2021 and legislation was filed to expand the program before the state Supreme Court struck it down for violating Kentucky’s constitution. That decision led directly to the legislature putting Amendment 2 on the ballot. Similar states that lack Kentucky’s constitutional protections for public education have recently increased spending on vouchers and school privatization at a rapidly growing cost to their budgets. Given that history and context, it is plausible to assume the legislature will pursue a similar path if voters approve the amendment.
How the Right Exploits ‘Moms’ to Privatize Education
Moms are allegedly at the center of a rightwing campaign attacking public schools and advocating for school vouchers. The latest entry in the “moms space” is called Moms on a Mission, which the organization’s website reveals is an offshoot of the Betsy DeVos-controlled American Federation for Children (AFC).
Be wary of what you read in the school voucher debate
The information surrounding universal voucher programs is rife with advocacy masquerading as research.
Two Visions of a Populist Education System
When pundits describe the current political zeitgeist as a drift toward “populism,” they’re generally trying to convince you that something very bad is going on. But it’s important to understand that populism, a term that basically means the will of the people, can swing both ways. Nowhere is this more obvious than in education policy and politics
This Ain't It': Pennsylvanians Slam Jay-Z's Roc Nation for School Voucher Push
Vouchers emerged in the United States as a tool to combat public As pro-public education groups plan a rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, educators and advocates on Friday criticized hip-hop icon Jay-Z's company Roc Nation over a campaign backing a proposed school voucher program in the commonwealth.
The campaign's "Dine & Learn" events in Philadelphia this month are intended to share information about the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) or "Lifelife Scholarships," as supporters also call them. If approved by state legislators in the next budget, the program would put tax dollars toward "education opportunity accounts" for certain families to send their children to K-12 private schools rather than low-performing public ones.
How Voucher Programs Undermine the Education Landscape in North Carolina
In 2023, North Carolina lawmakers went all-in on vouchers. Via changes incorporated in the 2023 budget bill, North Carolina became the tenth state with a universal voucher program, one in which all private school students are eligible for state-funded subsidies regardless of their family income.