Are school voucher programs a boon for families or an attack on public education?
What are school vouchers?
They are state and local programs that let families use public funds to pay for a private K-12 education. The subsidies vary by state but offer up to $16,000 per student per year, often enough to cover the full cost of tuition fees. When the first school vouchers were introduced in the 1990s, they were aimed at specific groups of disadvantaged children: disabled students who could benefit from a more specialized education, or those from low-income families stuck in failing schools. In recent years, these programs have exploded in popularity — about 1 million of the nation's 55 million K-12 students are now enrolled in voucher-style programs, double the number a few years ago. The programs have also become less targeted. Since 2022, 11 states have passed universal voucher programs open to all or nearly all children. Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's handbook of policy recommendations for a second Donald Trump term, endorses "universal school choice," and Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung has called it "an issue that should unify voters of all backgrounds." It doesn't: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has described vouchers as part of "a strategy to destroy public education."
How widespread are these programs?
Twenty-nine states, most led by Republicans, and the District of Columbia now offer public subsidies for private schooling or homeschooling. Eight states created or expanded voucher programs last year, and so far this year Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri have approved or expanded such programs. This rapid growth has been fueled by recent Supreme Court rulings that have eroded long-standing constitutional prohibitions against public money being spent on religious education. Most voucher recipients now attend faith-based schools, according to a Washington Post investigation of five states with expansive programs — Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, and Arizona. "We are, as a society, underwriting religion," said Richard Katskee, a First Amendment specialist at Duke University School of Law.
Are there benefits to vouchers?
The option of a state-funded private education, supporters say, frees parents to choose a school that's a better fit for their child without the burden of paying taxes and tuition. It's a popular message. Polling from pro-voucher group EdChoice shows that 73 percent of American parents support voucher availability. "They are helping people who don't have the resources," said Shemeika Williams, a Florida hospital worker who sends her 17-year-old daughter to a private Christian academy with state support. Conservative proponents also argue that vouchers make both public and private schools more accountable: If a school is failing academically or pushing progressive teachings on sexuality, gender, and race, then parents can pull their children out and spend the voucher elsewhere. School choice, says Betsy DeVos — Trump's former education secretary and a major backer of voucher initiatives — frees families "from forced indoctrination."
What do voucher opponents say?
They argue talk of "choice" masks a campaign to make education more unequal and unaccountable. Public schools are paid for largely by per-pupil funding, so when students go private, their state funding leaves the public system. Meanwhile, universal voucher programs can cause states' education bills to rise, because they are open to wealthy families who would otherwise pay their own private school tuition. Private schools also have no uniform system measuring instruction quality, and many are free to refuse disabled or LGBTQ applicants. Some of the staunchest opposition to vouchers has come from rural areas without private schools, where the local public school is often the lifeblood of the community. "I don't think it's very fair," Melissa Williamson, a mother of three from the Texas town of Cushing, said of a planned voucher program in the state. "If a parent wants their child to go to private school, they should have to pay for it."
Do vouchers boost student performance?
The data is murky — and contested. Voucher advocates argue more competition produces better outcomes for all, and one 2017 review of studies focused on city and state voucher initiatives found small improvements in local public schools. Other research indicates neutral-to-positive relationships between voucher programs and graduation rates. More recent data tells a different story, with low-income voucher recipients in Louisiana, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., seeing no improvement, or even declines, in test scores. In Louisiana, one study found that voucher recipients experienced double the level of learning loss of those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
What's next for vouchers?
Texas is expected to pass a universal voucher system next year. GOP state lawmakers from rural areas had blocked previous attempts to pass such a program, but many of those Republicans lost in spring primaries to candidates bankrolled by conservative megadonors such as DeVos and Jeff Yass. Should Trump win the White House in November, Project 2025 recommends that the $18 billion in annual Title 1 funding for low-income schools be rerouted toward vouchers. With 58 percent of Americans rating public schools as "poor" or "just fair," there's a genuine public appetite for change. But lost in the debate, University of Texas professor Huriya Jabbar argues, is the U.S. education system's ultimate purpose. "Vouchers really shift the concept of education to a private good," she said. "But education is a public good, meaning that it benefits not just individuals but society as a whole."
Arizona's expensive experiment
The first universal school choice program debuted in Arizona in 2022, making the state "the gold standard for educational freedom," said then-Gov. Doug Ducey. Last year, that freedom came with a $332 million price tag, five times the original $65 million estimate, partly because enrollment in the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts has ballooned from 12,000 students to an unexpected 70,000. Nearly half of the recipients — who get an average of $7,200 a year — live in the state's wealthiest areas. And while the law requires that some of their ESA money go to reading, grammar, and math instruction, the rest can be spent on anything deemed educational. A local news investigation found $1.2 million in ESA funds was spent on martial arts instruction; more than 100 recipients used some funds to buy ski passes. Meanwhile, with a $1.4 billion shortfall in the state budget, public-school officials fear cuts are coming. "Disadvantaged communities," said Phoenix school board member Signa Oliver, "should never have to subsidize the ultra-rich children's privileged education wants."
