Introduction

Voucher Programs are a proposal to funding some public, but more often private, schools. It claims to give more choice to families. However, it pushes off the cost of transportation and fact-finding to parents, and increases instability at schools and pollution in the community. As Nancy Loome, Executive Director of The Parents’ Campaign in Mississippi, says:

Defeating vouchers is a priority because vouchers provide a direct funding stream to private schools that takes funding away from our public schools. Private schools are not designed to be a public good. They want to be able to select the students that they educate and are not open to all students. Because they have a selective admission process, they can refuse any child for any reason. And they operate outside of the public eye. We don't know what the standards are that they are purporting to meet. We don't have any accountability for the quality of education that they are providing. So funding private schools is an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars, which are intended to fund public goods, things that are open to all children and benefit all taxpayers.

Milton Friedman, The Role of Government in Education. paper, 1955. Friedman argues for government-funded vouchers for schools, but not a publicly run school system. Contrary to his libertarian ideology, Friedman shows that schooling is not a market good because he acknowledges that schools provide training for democracy and citizenship, not just job training.
Carl F. Horowitz, Vouchers as Reparations. Mises Institute, Sep 1, 1996. Horowitz gives a history of Milwaukee, WI in the form of a narrative, not principled, critique of vouchers; critiques Polly Williams as a "black separatist" who ran a Black Panther platform
Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., Voucher Socialism. Mises Institute, Jul 13, 1999.
William F. Anderson, Trouble With Vouchers. Mises Institute, Sep 19, 2000. A libertarian argument against vouchers and public schooling
Laurence Vance, Vouchers: Another Central Program. Mises Institute, Dec 23, 2003. On the libertarian platform of abolishing all public schools and calling the result the free market in education; critiques John Merrifield, School Choices: True and False about vouchers and regulation; note the libertarian question of why anyone should pay for the education of another person's child
Laurence Vance, Vouchers: Another Income Redistribution Scheme. Mises Institute, Feb 3, 2005.
Rachel M. Cohen, The War on Public Schools: Charters, Vouchers, and Disposable Teachers are Trump’s Targets. American Prospect, Jan 4, 2017.
Michael Hiltzik, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is Getting Some Very Bad News About Her Favorite Thing, School Vouchers. Los Angeles Times, Feb 28, 2017. “Studies of a few early voucher experiments in Milwaukee, New York and Washington, D.C., were equivocal at best, showing some modest improvement in test scores for some students and none for others. That’s why the latest findings, which emerge from studies of statewide programs in Louisiana, Ohio and Indiana, have left education experts stunned. In a nutshell, they find huge declines of academic achievement among students in voucher programs in those three states.”
David Martin, Tri-City Ghosts: School Vouchers Raise the Possibility of Diverting Money Into Abusive Faith Communities. The Pitch, Mar 7, 2017.
Alia Wong, Public Opinion Shifts in Favor of School Choice. The Atlantic, Aug 21, 2018.
Krystal Ball, Forget The Masks, Statues The Real Culture War Has Just Begun. Rising | The Hill, Jul 14, 2020. On defunding public education; DeVos wants to push school privatization
Cory Turner, How Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Will Be Remembered. NPR, Nov 19, 2020. On revising Title IX sexual assault allegation processes; borrower defense and student loans; school choice (charter and voucher)
Nina Mast, State and Local Experience Proves School Vouchers Are a Failed Policy That Must Be Opposed. Economic Policy Institute, Apr 20, 2023. Despite overwhelming evidence of the harms of voucher programs and the unpopularity of attacks on public education, right-wing anti-education privatization advocates have prioritized the creation or expansion of school voucher programs as a policy goal this year in statehouses across the country. As of March 2023, public education advocates are tracking voucher bills in at least 24 states. As of mid-April, universal voucher bills—which will allow all families, regardless of income, to use public funds to pay for private education—have passed in four states: Iowa, Utah, Arkansas, and Florida. Meanwhile, voucher expansion bills have failed in at least six states so far in 2023: Georgia, Texas, Idaho, Virginia, Kentucky, and South Dakota. Public school advocacy organizations producing analysis reports include: Arizona Center for Economic Progress (AZCEP), Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI), Florida Policy Institute (FPI), Common Good Iowa (CGI), and Every Texan.
James Li, Does School Choice Harm Or Help US Education? Breaking Points, Jul 16, 2023. Points out data on “school choice” programs vs. standard public schools. Milton Friedman emerged as the loudest voice against Brown v. Board.
John Reynolds, Subverting Public Education to Fund Religious Schools. John Reynolds, Nov 10, 2023. An outline for a book, well sourced.
Samantha Boyd, Arkansas Department of Education Report Details Students Using Education Freedom Accounts to Attend Private Schools. NBC News | KARK, Oct 18, 2023.
Richard Fowler, Historic Win for Public Education as State Voucher Scheme is Defeated. Chicago Teachers Union, Nov 9, 2023. For background, see Illinois Families for Public Schools, Game Over for School Vouchers in Illinois. Illinois Families for Public Schools, Oct 2023. “In 2017, as a result of a backroom deal between then Governor Rauner, legislative leaders and the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the IL General Assembly created a K-12 voucher program for Illinois in the form of a tax credit scholarship scheme. Known as the Invest in Kids Act, the law allows up to $75 million in tax revenue to be diverted to private schools each year. More than $250 million state dollars have now been siphoned off to private schools in our state. This program was intended to last for five years and to sunset after the 2022-2023 school year. It was extended for one additional school year already. Voucher supporters and school privatizers want it to be made permanent and expand! The Illinois General Assembly has one last chance to take a vote to revive this program, Veto Session, scheduled for Oct 24-26th and Nov 7-9th. If no legislation is passed, it will end. But they could also pass a bill to continue funding it. This is the do-or-die moment for whether Illinois will continue this harmful program.”
Andy Spears, Vouchers Are Expensive and Ineffective. The Education Report | Substack, Nov 13, 2023. “But Tennessee lawmakers want to bring them back.”
Andy Spears, TN Pastors Oppose Gov. Lee's School Voucher Plan. The Education Report | Substack, Nov 30, 2023. Group calls for fully funded public schools. Tennessee pastors expressed opposition to a school voucher plan announced by Gov. Bill Lee yesterday.
Andy Spears, South Carolina Court Kills Vouchers. The Education Report | Substack, Sep 14, 2024.
Andy Spears, A Divided Nation Agrees: No Vouchers. The Education Report | Substack, Nov 6, 2024. “While the results of last night’s election indicate a still-divided nation on many issues, one common thread ran through the election results: Voters support their local and state public schools. Ballot measures in Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska all asked voters to weigh-in on using public funds to support private schools. In all three cases, voters resoundingly rejected that idea. Nationally, Colorado went blue, while Nebraska split its electoral votes between the two candidates, and Kentucky was among the first states to be called for Trump. In each case, however, voters resoundingly rejected school vouchers. In Kentucky, the margin was 2-1. A solid majority of voters in all 120 Kentucky counties voted NO on vouchers. Both rural and urban voters rejected vouchers.”
CBS Austin, Crisis in the Classroom - Rewriting Texas Education. CBS Austin, Dec 18, 2024. For the last few years, a bloc of Republican lawmakers, with Governor Greg Abbott largely leading the charge, has pushed for allocating taxpayer money for private schools, a policy called "school choice" by supporters and "school vouchers" by critics.
James Talarico, James Talarico Responds to Greg Abbott Signing Private School Vouchers Into Law. James Talarico, May 3, 2025.
Andy Spears, Vouchers Eat State Budgets. The Education Report | Substack, May 23, 2025. “Tennessee’s universal school voucher program starts in the 2025-26 school year and based on the current volume of applications, all available vouchers will be taken - costing the state nearly $150 million. Policymakers and taxpayers should be concerned: The results from other states indicate that voucher programs break state budgets and also leave students behind.”
Andy Spears, Privatization Schemes Kill Local Public Schools. The Education Report | Substack, June 23, 2025. An example from Pennsylvania
Andy Spears, Standing Up for Public Schools in Mississippi. The Education Report | Substack, June 24, 2025. “Advocates discuss the importance of defeating school privatization efforts”
Andy Spears, Ohio Voucher Scheme Ruled Unconstitutional.‍ ‍The Education Report | Substack, June 26, 2025. “A judge in Ohio ruled that the state’s EdChoice school voucher scheme violates the state’s constitution. While the decision will certainly be appealed, it offers hope to public education defenders.”
Andy Spears, Arizona: A Tale of Two School Systems.‍ ‍The Education Report | Substack, Jul 14, 2025.
“This week, 12 News released yet another explosive report on ESA vouchers, revealing that more than $440 million in taxpayer dollars is sitting unused in voucher accounts — all while Arizona’s public school students go without desperately needed resources due to woefully inadequate funding from the state. As the report states, the Education Data Initiative ranked AZ 49th in funding for public education.
Unbelievably, state law allows these rollover funds to be used for college 🤯 When former Gov. Ducey and the Republican-led legislature expanded vouchers universally in 2022, they forced in language allowing ESA voucher funds to be used on post-secondary education, including in-state and out-of-state tuition for colleges and universities. Meanwhile, public school parents must pay on their own dime.”
Andy Spears, Private School Coupons for Wealthy Families Create AZ Budget Shortfall. The Education Report | Substack, Jul 28, 2025. Universal school vouchers in Arizona turned into a rich get richer scheme.
Andy Spears, Florida’s Voucher Problem. The Education Report | Substack, Oct 24, 2025.
“Florida’s got a money problem. It seems both public and private schools aren’t getting paid for the kids they are educating. At least, the money is not flowing with the kids in a timely fashion.
The rapid expansion of the state’s School Choice scholarship program burrowed a $47 million hole in the Florida Department of Education’s budget and left public and private schools complaining they aren’t getting properly paid. Money problems that arose during the 2024-2025 school year can largely be attributed to the mobility that students enjoy to shift from public to private or to home education freely, said Adam Emerson, director of the Department of Education Office of School Choice.
Fluctuations caused by students moving from public to private schools (or from private to public) in the middle of a school year mean payments from the state don’t always match enrollment.”
Andy Spears, A Voucher Mess in Florida. The Education Report | Substack, Oct 27, 2025. Double-dipping by voucher recipients costs public schools millions of dollars.
Andy Spears, Lee Faces Lawsuit Over School Voucher Scheme. The Education Report | Substack, Nov 21, 2025. Parents say plan undermines public schools. “A group of Tennessee parents has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s universal school voucher scheme. The parents claim school vouchers - Gov. Bill Lee’s top policy priority - undermine the state’s public schools and therefore violate the Tennessee Constitution’s requirement for the General Assembly to establish and support a “system of free public schools.””