Voucher programs undermine public education.

Proposed private school voucher expansions divert even more money from an already underfunded public school system, and fail to address severe teacher shortages.

North Carolina public schools face severe teacher and staff shortages, especially in rural areas, and the state ranks dead last or near last in several national categories charting public education spending. 

The 2022-23 PPS Impact Report celebrates PPS’s continued commitment to advancing the role of families and communities in securing a high-quality public education for every child. The report also includes PPS’s statement in opposition to vouchers and work with other statewide advocacy groups against vouchers.

Voucher plans are sweeping the country, transferring public funds to private schools. Many Illinois residents don't realize we have a voucher program right here in the form of a tax credit "scholarship" program, known as Invest in Kids.

Our expert panel looks at this national trend, examines the research on student achievement in voucher schools, gives a glimpse of the impact of vouchers on students in our neighboring state of Indiana, and presents important information about Invest in Kids.

Network 49 hosts a presentation from IL Families for Public Schools' Diane Horwitz and Cassie Creswell talking about the voucher program in Illinois, Invest in Kids.

Illinois Families for Public Schools is calling for the Invest in Kids program to end permanently, along with more than 50 other state and local organizations. Vouchers harm the public good in a variety of ways: they violate the fundamental principle of the separation of church and state. They divert public dollars from our already underfunded Illinois public schools. Research shows that they do not improve academic outcomes for children who receive vouchers. And we know that voucher schools in Illinois are discriminating on the basis of religion, disability status, LGBTQ+ status and more---that's not what education equity looks like!

This report from the Education Law Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center illustrates that while southern states are failing to adequately fund their public schools, almost all of them are funneling scarce education funding to private schools through voucher programs and otherwise engaging in “culture wars” that seek to undermine public education.