Just say NO!: Coalition urges Democratic governors to reject voucher scheme

tarting in 2027, a new federal school voucher law will steer tax dollars toward private school tuition for the first time on a national scale. State governors choose whether to opt in or out of the program. In an open letter to all 24 Democratic governors, more than 30 education union leaders representing millions of teachers, school staff and public employees are urging the governors to opt out of a private school voucher tax credit program that would divert resources away from public schools and accelerate the privatization of education.

The largest expansion of private school vouchers in U.S. history, the Educational Choice for Children Act offers dollar-for-dollar federal tax credits for “donations” to private voucher organizations. These tax dollars that would have funded public services will instead pay private school tuition — with none of the transparency or accountability the public expects in return.

Here’s what families, educators, and voters should understand about how these programs actually work:

What is a school voucher?
A voucher redirects public tax dollars to pay for private school tuition. The branding varies but the mechanism is the same: public money flowing to private schools.

Who is eligible?
Eligibility extends to families earning up to 300% of their area’s median gross income — more than $500,000 in parts of New York. This is not a program designed to assist struggling families, but rather it’s structured primarily as a tax break for the wealthy and a way to divert public funds to private organizations.

Where does the money go?
Funds flow to private Scholarship Granting Organizations, which decide who receives the money. These organizations are not required to be transparent or accountable to the public, and the private schools they fund can turn away students based on any criteria they choose.

Where did vouchers come from?
Vouchers were invented to avoid integration. The first programs, called “tuition grants,” emerged as part of the coordinated campaign to evade school desegregation required by the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954. Between 1954 and 1965, Southern states passed as many as 450 laws and resolutions to block or delay desegregation, including measures that routed public money to all-white private “segregation academies.”

Sadly, that history has a legacy that lasts to the current day: Nearly 300 schools that began as segregation academies still operate.

Will vouchers help families who can’t afford private school?
For most families, no. Vouchers rarely cover the full cost of tuition, and private schools can reject any applicant. When Iowa launched vouchers, private schools raised prices 21–25 percent, putting them further out of reach for low-income families. The pattern elsewhere is telling: in Arkansas, 95 percent of voucher recipients were already enrolled in private school, and in Indiana, recipients were more likely to earn over $100,000 than under $50,000. Vouchers primarily subsidize families who’ve already left — or never used — public schools.

What happens when voucher students leave public schools?
Public schools lose the full per-pupil funding when a student leaves, but their fixed costs — buildings, buses, utilities, staff — don’t shrink with one fewer student. That forces cuts to teachers, programs, and support services for the majority of students who remain.

Are voucher programs affordable for taxpayers?
History says they grow far beyond projections and end up costing taxpayers far more than originally promised. Some notable examples:

• Arizona’s universal vouchers were projected to cost $65 million; but by fiscal year 2024 it had reached $738 million — 1,229 percent over budget. It became a primary driver of a $1.4 billion state shortfall, forcing cuts of $333 million from water infrastructure, $54 million from community colleges, and tens of millions from highway repairs.
• Indiana’s program went from $15 million to nearly $500 million a year.

These programs don’t stay small — they grow without a cap and destabilize entire state budgets.

Does the public support vouchers?
Not when they come at the expense of public schools. In a recent poll, 68% of voters prefer funding public schools over vouchers.

Do vouchers help low-income and minority students achieve equity?
The evidence shows voucher programs tend to increase school segregation rather than reduce it. Affluent families are the likeliest to leave public schools and take per-pupil funding with them. Over time, this concentrates students in poverty in public schools with less funding over time.

Private schools that receive vouchers can reject any child who doesn’t fit their business model — and the students most likely to be turned away are precisely the ones who are costliest to serve: children with disabilities, English learners, and those with greater needs.

Gov. Hochul has signaled she intends to opt New York into this federal voucher program. In response, NYSUT is leading a coalition of organizations across New York calling on her to change her mind. Sign our petition now, so we can show her that she can’t be a champion for public schools AND opt in to programs that would defund them.

Read more at nysut.cc/notovouchers.