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
- Alec MacGillis
- Allen Pratt
- 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
- Donald Cohen
- EdTrust
- Education Law Center Pennsylvania
- Education Voters of Pennsylvania
- Eli Hager
- Emily Walkenhorst
- 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
- 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
- Howard Fischer
- Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy
- IDRA
- Illinois Families for Public Schools
- In the Public Interest
- Indiana Coalition for Public Education
- 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 Berry Hawes and Mollie Simon
- Jessica Corbett
- Jim Collier
- Joanna LeFebvre
- Joe Dana
- Jon Valant and Nicolas Zerbino
- Joshua Cowen
- Juan Perez Jr.
- 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
- 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 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
- 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
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.
Nebraska voters reject state funding for students attending private K-12 schools
Voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected Nebraska’s new school voucher or scholarship program, steering public dollars spent to public schools.
Segregation Academies Across the South Are Getting Millions in Taxpayer Dollars
Private schools across the South that were established for white children during desegregation are now benefiting from tens of millions in taxpayer dollars flowing from rapidly expanding voucher-style programs, a ProPublica analysis found.
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.
The Fiscal Impacts of Expanded Voucher Programs and Charter-School Growth on Public Schools: Recommendations for Sustaining Adequate and Equitable School Finance Systems
The U.S. Department of Education has projected enrollment declines over the next decade, leading to budget cuts for school districts, which will be particularly impactful in urban and rural areas serving vulnerable students. As federal COVID-19 funds expire, districts will face challenges in cutting costs, potentially leading to layoffs or school closures. Meanwhile, many states have expanded voucher programs and charter schools, diverting funds from public schools despite limited enrollment growth. Research shows these shifts harm traditional public school financing. To address this, policymakers must ensure equitable funding for public schools and hold charter and private schools to the same standards as public ones.
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.
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.
Opinion: Trinity won't let me write about Amendment 2. Here's why I'm against it.
I’m a “private school kid.” I went to St. Francis of Assisi for first through eighth grades, and I am now a senior at Trinity High School. I will always be indebted to those schools for providing me with fantastic educations and experiences in the most formative years of my life. But to say I am disappointed with Trinity’s stance on Amendment 2 — a Kentucky ballot measure that would allow public tax funding to be used for private schools — would be an understatement.
In an Unprecedented Move, Ohio Is Funding the Construction of Private Religious Schools
The state is giving millions in taxpayer dollars directly to private schools to help them renovate and expand their campuses. It may be the next frontier in the push to increase the use of school vouchers, proponents say.
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.
The Dark Money Defunding Rural Schools
Eleven states now have universal school voucher laws, with the harm falling especially hard on rural schools. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have at least one private school choice program. In November 2023, when Politico tweeted out its story, “GOP states are embracing vouchers. Wealthy parents are benefitting.,” Corey DeAngelis, DeVos’s privatization point man, responded, “Fantastic.”
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.
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.
The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual
PFPS is excited to welcome back authors Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider to the PFPS webinar series. Ms. Berkshire and Dr. Schneider will discuss their new book, "The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual," with Jasmine Bolton, Policy Director at the Partnership for the Future of Learning.
South Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down Unconstitutional Private School Vouchers
In a major victory for public school students in South Carolina—and across the country—the South Carolina Supreme Court has struck down the private school voucher program enacted by the State Legislature in 2023.
School Vouchers Were Supposed to Save Taxpayer Money. Instead They Blew a Massive Hole in Arizona’s Budget
Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, has spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it’s now facing hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state programs and projects.
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.
PA: Bill Proposes $8000 Payoff To Ditch Public School
A new bill in the Pennsylvania Senate is a sort of super-voucher stripped of any pretense, because it simply pays parents to pull their child out of public school.
School voucher use has exploded. Some Ohio families can't take part
School vouchers have exploded in use in Ohio since last summer when the state legislature made all families, regardless of their income level, eligible for the private school scholarships.