School Vouchers: Failing Students, Draining Public Schools, and Losing at the Ballot Box

In recent years, the expansion of private school voucher programs has posed significant challenges to public education. Universal voucher policies, which allow any student to use public funds for private schooling regardless of income or prior public school attendance, have grown from zero to thirteen statewide programs, or more than one-quarter of all states, between 2021 and 2025.

This surge has occurred despite consistent public opposition; since 1970, voters have rejected the creation or expansion of private school vouchers every time they have been proposed.

Beyond their negative financial impacts on public schools, the idea of private school vouchers originates from a deeply troubled history tied to racism and segregation. In the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), some states, particularly in the South, created voucher programs to fund white-only private “segregation academies” as a way to circumvent desegregation orders.

Unfortunately, research indicates that vouchers continue to promote racial and economic segregation today. Studies have found that voucher programs disproportionately benefit wealthier, white families while leaving public schools with higher concentrations of Black, Latino, and low-income students. Instead of expanding opportunity, vouchers reinforce existing inequities in education.

In a new paper by my colleagues Lily Klam and Chris Becker, “School Vouchers and the Growing Threat to Public Education,” they conclude:

The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that private school vouchers are a failed policy. Instead of focusing on private school vouchers that benefit only small numbers of students, lawmakers must consider solutions that advance opportunity for the 90% of U.S. students who attend public schools. 

Education researcher Joshua Cowen explains:

Source: IDRA Infographic

Compounding the problem facing students and public schools in the states, Klam also recently highlighted a specific threat at the federal level in her analysis, “The Dangers of Federal School Vouchers: H.R. 9462 and Its Impact on Public Education.” Klam explains that this new federal private school voucher tax credit would cost taxpayers $20 billion, would allow recipients to discriminate against children, creates a system of privileging newly created voucher middle-men to distribute vouchers over other charities, benefit a small number of students who overwhelmingly already attend private schools, reward private schools with poor results and little to no oversight to the tune of billions, and could exacerbate fraud and abuse.

As Klam writes:

It’s important that public funds remain in public schools, that students are not discriminated against in the schools they attend, and that private schools aren’t favored over other charities in our tax code. Evidence overwhelmingly supports the claim that private school vouchers are a failed policy.

The public gets it, which is why, school vouchers remain wildly unpopular with voters. As Arizona’s Beth Lewis wrote back in April 2024:

This proved to be true, once again, in the recent elections this past November. In ballot initiatives, voters in Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska decisively rejected statewide ballot measures aimed at expanding voucher programs.

In Kentucky, 65% of voters opposed a constitutional amendment that would have allowed public funds to support private education. Similarly, Nebraska voters repealed a voucher law with close to 60% of the vote. In Colorado, an amendment to enshrine a right to school choice in the state constitution failed to achieve the required 55% majority. These outcomes underscore the public's consistent support for public education over privatization efforts.

Cowen notes:

Therefore, what is needed is for policymakers to fund our public schools. As Klam and Becker explain:

Where public schools do struggle, research shows that it is not because the public school model is irredeemable; it is because public schools have been systematically starved of resources. For example, economist Kirabo Jackson estimates that “a permanent 10 percent spending increase — or an increase of $1,260 per student overall — would lead to 7 percent higher wages at age 40 and a three percentage point lower likelihood of adult poverty among those exposed to the spending increases across all 12 years of their public school education.”

To listen to Kirabo Jackson talk more about how money matters and how investing in our kids benefits all of us, our Speaking of Kids podcast episode #5 hosted him as a guest.

The evidence is clear: vouchers don’t improve education, they drain public schools of critical funding, and the public overwhelmingly rejects them when given a choice. Beyond their financial harm, vouchers also have a long and troubling history of promoting segregation, and research shows they continue to exacerbate racial and economic inequities in education today.

Most people love the public schools in their communities and oppose their privatization. Now more than ever, it is critical to push back against policies that weaken public schools, deepen segregation, and divert resources away from the vast majority of students who rely on them.

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