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Rob Boston 1/24/25 Rob Boston 1/24/25

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.

National Education Policy Center 1/24/25 National Education Policy Center 1/24/25

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.

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.)

Carl Davis 1/24/25 Carl Davis 1/24/25

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.

Jason Bailey 1/24/25 Jason Bailey 1/24/25

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.

Joanna LeFebvre 1/24/25 Joanna LeFebvre 1/24/25

States Should Bolster, Not Undermine, Education Gains Made with ESSER Funds

Over half of states divert public dollars away from public schools to private schools through school vouchers. In 2024, 14 states enacted new, or expanded existing, school voucher programs, and Colorado and Kentucky are considering legalizing school vouchers through ballot measures. For example, Florida will spend almost $4 billion on its school voucher program this year, an amount that could easily replace Florida’s total annual ESSER loss if invested in public, rather than private, schools.

Peter Greene 1/24/25 Peter Greene 1/24/25

What Is In The Federal School Voucher Bill

The Educational Choice for Children Act of 2024, introduced by Representative Adrian Smith (R-NE-3), would create school vouchers on the federal level, and as with all voucher programs, the devil is in the details. What do we find when we take a look under the hood?

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 9/20/24 Public Funds Public Schools 9/20/24

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.

Southern Education Foundation 9/12/24 Southern Education Foundation 9/12/24

Education Policy in the South: Regional Highlights Slides

These slides on are from SEF’s webinar which provided a high-level overview of education policy and news from the 2024 southern legislative sessions, highlighting regional trends, and reviewing SEF’s policy recommendations. Partners, lawmakers, and other stakeholders are encouraged to attend and share widely across their networks.

Southern Education Foundation 9/12/24 Southern Education Foundation 9/12/24

Education Policy in the South: 2024 Legislative Spotlight

This webinar provides a high-level overview of education policy and news from the 2024 southern legislative sessions, highlighting regional trends, and reviewing SEF’s policy recommendations. Partners, lawmakers, and other stakeholders are encouraged to attend and share widely across their networks.

Support Our Schools Nebraska 9/12/24 Support Our Schools Nebraska 9/12/24

Public school supporters surpass signature goalto put repeal of LB1402 voucher scheme on the November ballot

The Support Our Schools Nebraska coalition needed to collect 61,621 signatures to let voters repeal or retain a bill that spends millions of public tax dollars to pay for private schools. Today, the coalition submitted more than 86,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State to ensure the issue will appear on the November ballot. The group also exceeded the 38-county requirement with 5% of voters signing the petition in more than 60 of the state’s 93 counties.

Public Funds Public Schools and Education Law Center 5/24/24 Public Funds Public Schools and Education Law Center 5/24/24

NJ A4144/S3035 is a Private School Voucher Bill and it is Extremely Dangerous

Make no mistake – this bill would create New Jersey’s first and only PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHER program. Do not be fooled by code words like “scholarships” and “student support organization” and “tax credits.” As one court put it when striking down a similar tax credit voucher law, the program’s unconstitutionality could not be “evaded through the mechanism of funding this program from a tax credit rather than by a direct appropriation of tax dollars.”

Network for Public Education 5/3/24 Network for Public Education 5/3/24

Tell Congress. No Federal Vouchers: Not Now, Not Ever.

It is School Choice Week, and the usual suspects are pressuring Congress to pass a national tax-credit voucher bill called the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA).The ECCA would give tax credits to individuals and corporations who donate to tax-exempt organizations that provide scholarships to K-12 students to attend private schools. Donors could receive up to a $5,000 tax credit, potentially draining our national treasury of up to ten billion dollars this year. That is the 2024 cap.

National Coalition for Public Education 5/3/24 National Coalition for Public Education 5/3/24

Oppose the Education Choice for Children Act

The Education Choice for Children program is a voucher proposal that would redirect $10 billion per year of federal taxpayer dollars to fund private school vouchers. Individuals and corporations would receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donating to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) that provide private school vouchers to students. This proposal has been introduced in Congress as the “Education Choice for Children Act.” There are a number of flaws with this legislation.

IDRA 1/2/24 IDRA 1/2/24

Stop Vouchers Webpage

Texas Governor Abbott called a special legislative session in October 2023 to press legislators to establish Texas’ first-ever private school voucher program, funded by all Texas taxpayers. Instead, Texas needs to invest in public schools that serve 5.4 million students and their families. The proposed voucher program would cost $500 million. Get resources here to help Texas say no to vouchers!

Public Funds Public Schools 12/21/23 Public Funds Public Schools 12/21/23

Litigation Public Funds Public Schools

Private school voucher programs raise a number of legal issues, and many have faced court challenges. Voucher programs may violate a state constitution's education clause, including a state's obligation to adequately fund public schools or to provide a uniform system of public schools, and other important state constitutional protections.

Voucher lawsuits have also been based on violations of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as state constitutional provisions, known as Blaine Amendments or no-aid clauses, that prohibit public funding of religious institutions. Other voucher lawsuits have focused on students' civil rights guarantees.

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