Sophia Alejandro is a staff writer and a first-year MPA student.

School voucher programs have long represented a complex and controversial policy approach to reframing school choice and public education as we know it. While advocates argue that the freedom for parents to decide how and where their children are educated is essential, critics argue that vouchers undermine public educational freedoms by diverting funds and creating selective enrollment practices which widen inequities. Through examining the history of school vouchers and program outcomes broadly, this piece delves into the landscape of school choice and its implications for American education.

A Brief History of Vouchers

The modern era of vouchers emerged in 1990 with the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.

“The city’s public system was struggling. Its annual high school dropout rate was in the teens, meaning fewer than 60 percent of freshmen eventually graduated, and the average grade point was a D+.” Pushed by then-Governor Tommy Thompson, “The program gave state vouchers to about 350 poor Milwaukee kids. The tax money would pay their tuition if they wanted to leave [Milwaukee Public Schools] and attend a non-religious private school.”

At the time, the state Superintendent Herbert Grover warned that school vouchers could dismantle what he called the “common school” saying:

“[We have] the highest teen pregnancy rate of any industrialized nation in the western world. We have drug and alcohol problems, child abuse, low birth-weight babies. No one addresses those issues and the schools are struggling around those issues. So then we create a private school choice program where the enlightened flee the system with public resources for which there is no accountability.”

At first, there were only seven schools involved with the Parental Choice Program. Within months, one of these voucher accepting schools closed. 

“Not enough food for the children, late buses, school started at nine, sometimes the buses come at 10:00, 10:30. The bathrooms weren’t always functioning and working. Sometimes the boys would be in the girls’ bathroom. Some of the textbooks should have been thrown in the garbage because they were just that raggedy,” Janice Cochrall, parent of a student attending a voucher school, said.

The unintended consequences of the program for students were many, and it heeds a warning for policymakers today.

Seven states have implemented new voucher programs this year, according to The Brookings Institution, with other states like Texas attempting to do the same. 

Evaluating Data and Impact 

There is an abundance of studies suggesting both positive and negative impacts of voucher programs on educational outcomes for students. A 2022 study from Indiana University evaluated voucher programs and found that students using vouchers to attend private schools scored lower on student achievement assessments than their public school counterparts. In contrast, a 2015 review of 19 studies by the National Bureau of Economic Research found positive effects on student achievement, particularly among low-income students. However, the review found the effectiveness of these programs varied greatly between states and local districts. 

For the 2023-2024 school year, according to the Florida Policy Institute, Florida is projected to require about four billion dollars to fully fund their voucher programs. However, only $2.3 billion was allocated by the legislature and $1.1 billion in tax credits. More than 400,000 applications were already approved for next year. Of these, 70% were already attending private schools in the previous year, demonstrating significant growth in the program. Now, the state will have to determine how to pay these unforeseen costs. 

As policymakers expand the population of students, they must also expand the financial oversight of schools. Now that Florida needs to pay these families, it must also acknowledge that there is a lack of accountability in financial reporting by private schools, further affecting funds allocated to public schools. According to The Brookings Institute, there is evidence that private schools will begin to slowly raise tuition as their student bodies grow and receive more vouchers, taking advantage of the influx of public dollars. 

In Arizona, a state in which the impacts are larger than fiscal, public school advocates have pushed back against expanding the voucher programs for equity reasons. According to Save Our Schools Arizona, a non-partisan education group founded by parents, educators and advocates that work to build stronger public schools in Arizona, voucher students are not safeguarded by laws protecting LGBTQ+ students, special education students or English Language Learners as in public schools. 

“Vouchers do not save Arizona money: the minimum ESA [Empowerment Scholarship Account] voucher is $500 higher than the state per-pupil funding to district schools,” according to SOSArizona’s website. 

Along the top of their website is a tracker that displays the number of ESA dollars that will be spent on the Arizona voucher program. Citing a projection by the Arizona Department of Education, the site claims ESA vouchers will cost $943,000,000 in 2023 alone.

“To be frank, I have regretted it ever since.” said the former Rep. Joel John (R-25) regarding his 2022 vote to expand ESA vouchers universally. “It was such a bad policy, I was embarrassed I supported it.”  

In Texas, there is ongoing conversation about the necessity and utility of school choice vouchers for the state’s five million students. On November 17, the Texas House voted 84-63 to remove the program from a broad education bill including increased public school funding and teacher pay raises, which Governor Greg Abbott stated he would veto without voucher provisions, according to the Texas Tribune.

The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops has publicly lobbied in support for the voucher program, as they served more than 62,000 private school students in the 2021-2022 school year. The conference met with legislators in favor of the program, arguing the vouchers could have helped with the ongoing decline in Catholic school enrollment, according to the Texas Tribune. In the face of intense lobbying and Governor Abbott providing reelection endorsements only to those backing the voucher program, it is yet to be seen if legislators will fall behind school choice before the end of the special session.

Equity Implications and Socioeconomic Dynamics

EdChoice, a pro-voucher organization, reported in 2021 that 60% of students using vouchers are from low income families. One pro-voucher argument by advocates, such as conservative think-tank The Heritage Foundation, is that vouchers would allow marginalized communities a greater opportunity at a high-quality education while also providing healthy competition with public institutions, thereby raising the quality of all schools.

Meanwhile, critics, such as parents, teachers and non-profit organizations that advocate for minority groups, express a concern for the ways in which vouchers could widen the equity gap. For example, in states that have endorsed school choice on a large scale, we see students with disabilities struggling. 

According to the NCEP Coalition, “Private voucher schools often deny admission to students with disabilities or to students based on other factors like disciplinary history, which disproportionately affects students with disabilities.” 

At the same time that parents are given greater choice on where to send students, schools are also given greater opportunity to select their students. These schools select their students based on behavioral history and disability identification, resulting in families with greater socioeconomic resources being selected at a higher rate. Finally, rural areas tend to suffer the most. In rural communities there tends to be few institutions for students to pick from if awarded vouchers, however, the public schools are still losing money because of voucher program funding allocation.  

For education policy professionals, the intricate and multifaceted nature of implementing school voucher programs necessitates careful consideration. As of 2023, voucher programs have expanded significantly, with around 100,000 more students using vouchers compared to a decade prior, according to EdChoice.

School voucher programs exist at the intersection of educational theory and public policy, demanding an intricate and balanced approach to their implementation and evaluation. Their impact on American education remains an evolving story, shaped by historical context, contemporary policy decisions and equity-based thinking. As we see more states implementing such programs, it is important to recognize direct and indirect consequences. This issue begs the consideration of historical successes and failures, student achievement standards, inequalities created and public voices. Beyond all of this, it must be considered what is best for our next generation of leaders.

This piece was edited by Deputy Editor Kathleen Bever and Executive Editor Nathan Varnell.