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Zack Carreon, WVXU, Kendall Crawford 9/12/24 Zack Carreon, WVXU, Kendall Crawford 9/12/24

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.

Jessica Corbett 9/12/24 Jessica Corbett 9/12/24

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.

Jim Collier 9/12/24 Jim Collier 9/12/24

Ohio’s expanded vouchers are bleeding public schools that often outperform the private schools that benefit

Vouchers emerged in the United States as a tool to combat public school integration in southern states following the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Led by Virginia, state legislatures provided public funds for white students to attend private schools — often referred to as “segregation academies.”

A new era of vouchers rebranded as “school choice” has swept the country in recent years, including Ohio, resurrecting segregation academies on wealth and racial lines.

Jasmine Bolton and April Callen 9/12/24 Jasmine Bolton and April Callen 9/12/24

Don’t Be Fooled By 'School Choice.' It’s a Trojan Horse for Privatizing Education.

Since 2023, state legislators across America have introduced more than 200 bills to create or expand private school vouchers, using taxpayer funds to reimburse families who choose to send their children to private schools. Supporters of vouchers claim they promote “school choice” or even promote equity. The reality is they drain crucially needed resources from public education, the only system enshrined in all 50 states’ constitutions and committed to educating all students, regardless of abilities, economic circumstances, race, religion, gender or special needs.

Laura Meckler and Michelle Boorstein 6/4/24 Laura Meckler and Michelle Boorstein 6/4/24

Billions in taxpayer dollars now go to religious schools via vouchers

Billions in taxpayer dollars are being used to pay tuition at religious schools throughout the country, as state voucher programs expand dramatically and the line separating public education and religion fades.

OpenSky Policy Institute 6/3/24 OpenSky Policy Institute 6/3/24

OpenSky School Privatization Webinar 2023

In this webinar Heather DuBois Bourenane of the Wisconsin Public Education Network, Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, and Beth Lewis from SOS Arizona talk with OpenSky about the impact of school privatization legislation in their states.

Joshua Cowen 5/30/24 Joshua Cowen 5/30/24

Dark Money Vouchers Are Having a Moment

Over the past 12 months, the decades-long push to divert tax dollars toward religious education has reached new heights. As proclaimed by EdChoice—the advocacy group devoted to school vouchers—2023 has been the year these schemes reached “escape velocity.” In strictly legislative terms, seven states passed new voucher systems, and ten more expanded existing versions. Ten states now run eleven universal voucher programs, all of which have no meaningful income or other restrictions.

Indiana Coalition for Public Education 5/1/24 Indiana Coalition for Public Education 5/1/24

Indiana's Choice: A new documentary about education in Indiana

School choice has had troubling consequences for the Indiana K-12 public school system. Indiana’s Choice brings forward the voices of teachers, students, administrators, and parents to examine how school choice enables segregation of students and discrimination against students, families, and school employees.

Public Funds Public Schools 2/12/24 Public Funds Public Schools 2/12/24

The PFPS Interview: Darian Burns (SEF) and Mason Goodwin (GYJC) on Fighting Voucher Expansion in Georgia

The latest installment in the Public Funds Public Schools interview series highlights the work of public education advocates in Georgia, who successfully defeated private school voucher proposals during the 2023 legislative session. As these proposals continue to pass in states across the country at alarming rates, it is more crucial than ever that state and local organizations share knowledge and strategies on how best to oppose these harmful policies.

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!

Network for Public Education 12/22/23 Network for Public Education 12/22/23

Toolkit: School Privatization Explained

The Network for Public Education Toolkit: School Privatization Explained was first created in 2017 to alert the general public regarding the various forms that privatization takes and the consequences associated with each. We’ve updated the toolkit to ensure the information is up-to-date. This toolkit presents evidence of what we already know about charters, vouchers and other forms of privatization. It is organized around key questions, providing answers in clear language to the questions we at NPE are most often asked.

National Education Association 12/22/23 National Education Association 12/22/23

Telling the Real Story on School Voucher Programs Rapid Response Memo

Opponents of public schools have pushed forward with another attack on children’s freedom to learn. This time, some elected officials are threatening to rip funds from students via school voucher programs to bankroll private schools for the wealthy and hide their refusal to fully fund public schools and ensure that every child from the big cities to small towns has a neighborhood school where they can learn, grow and thrive.

National Coalition for Public Education 12/22/23 National Coalition for Public Education 12/22/23

Opposing Private School Vouchers:A Toolkit for Legislators and Advocates

This toolkit is designed as a resource to help legislators and pro-public education advocates oppose attempts to create new or expand existing private school voucher programs.

In recent years, a network of anti-public-education politicians and lobbying groups has been emboldened in its push for private school vouchers. Billionaires like the DeVoses, including former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the Kochs, and the Waltons are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on these campaigns. These funders are using their war chests to lobby for voucher bills in state legislatures, contribute to the political campaigns of pro-voucher candidates, and seed astroturf petition drives to put vouchers on the ballot.