Governors should absorb the lessons of a damning new national study of voucher programs before deciding whether to opt in to a federal voucher scheme diverting taxpayer funds to private, mostly religious schools.
The study, “The Effects of Universal School Vouchers on Private School Tuition and Enrollment: A National Analysis,” by Tulane University economists Douglas N. Harris and Gabriel Olivier, documents that rapidly expanding voucher programs around the country have mostly benefited wealthy families already sending their kids to private schools. The report assesses 11 states that have adopted so-called “universal” voucher programs, meaning they are available even to the wealthiest families in those states. The authors conclude that public funds are primarily “going to families who already send their children to private schools and who generally have above-average incomes.”
Further, in response to voucher expansion, private schools predictably have raised their tuition rates by 5-10 percent, and that number is likely to rise sharply in subsequent years for various reasons outlined in the study. The end result is that private schools get more money, leaving less funding for public schools. In short, vouchers divert public funds away from public schools and into the coffers of private religious schools. Arguments that vouchers are good for American students are — and have always been — false.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has been raising the red flag on this reality for years. The rhetoric of “school choice” has always rung hollow, as private schools are able to choose their students far more freely than most students are able to choose their schools. Students with special needs, or who live in rural areas, or are from families with limited income often have no ability to use voucher funds even if they wanted to. Plus, nonreligious and minority-religion families are unlikely to send their kids to Christian schools, which make up the vast majority of voucher recipients. The new study suggests that “interest in private schools may be driven by religion rather than other factors like academics.”
“This study proves that vouchers hurt our public schools, and force taxpayers to subsidize religious education, for no good reason,” comments FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “States that have expanded their voucher programs are already seeing the harm, and now the federal government is inviting other states to partake in this educational catastrophe.”
The federal voucher program provides tax credits for donations of up to $1,700 a year to “scholarship-granting organizations” funding vouchers, with no cap on the number of taxpayers who can claim the credit. There is no other such program in which the federal government will bankroll an entire donation. Estimates are that the program could cost as much as $51 billion per year, with unaccountable religious schools almost entirely the beneficiary. There is no benefit to states opting in, because the scheme utilizes federal funding to reimburse donations that used to go to public schools.
FFRF and its advocacy arm, the FFRF Action Fund, will be mounting an educational campaign to persuade governors not to opt into the new federal voucher scheme, the first time the federal government has approved a national voucher program. Governors who care about providing a strong, secular education for all students, and who believe that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for religious instruction, should take note of this new study and confidently opt out of the new federal voucher scheme. Americans must demand an end to this growing blight on our nation’s education system, and insist that public schools receive adequate funding from both the federal and state governments.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
The post New study reveals massive problems with private school vouchers appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
