The School Voucher Shell Game

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The “School Choice” argument begins with a simple claim: that public schools are failing and vouchers will fix them. It sounds reasonable — even responsible — until you look at the numbers.

The sales pitch is polished and optimistic. We’re told vouchers will empower parents, improve academic performance, and inject healthy competition into education. Metaphorically speaking, unicorns and rainbows fill the sky, and parents are assured that with a publicly funded voucher to a private school, their children’s future will be secure.

But then the real data emerges, and the sales pitch falls apart.

Our neighbors to the south in Arkansas serve as a good example. Under the leadership of Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Education Freedom Account program under the LEARNS Act was implemented with the promise of improving education for students suffering in a failing public school system. It issued vouchers so families could subsidize their children's education in private schools and homeschools. In its first year of operation (2023-2024 school year), 95 percent of students who received vouchers had not attended a public school the previous year. In other words, the overwhelming majority of voucher recipients were already in private schools or were homeschooled. They were never in public schools to begin with.

Keep in mind that school vouchers don’t automatically mean every child gets to attend a private school. The problem is that private schools in general are extremely expensive, and a voucher covers only a portion of the tuition. For example, Pulaski Academy in Little Rock charges between $13,270 and $17,200 in annual tuition. As another example, Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock charges between $15,010 and $17,900. With vouchers worth only about $6,600 per child, families must still cover the difference of $7,000 to $11,000 out of pocket. For working families, that’s impossible. For wealthy families already paying tuition, it’s a rebate.

Private schools are already out of reach for most people, so the promise of making schools better through competition falls flat. It is a transfer of public money into private hands.

As you might imagine, the voucher system puts a tremendous burden on the Arkansas state budget. The fixed costs of running public schools don’t disappear just because a handful of students leave.

Nevertheless, supporters continue to argue that even if most voucher students were already in private schools, the program still drives competition, thereby improving public schools. But competition only works when the rules are fair, and the players are held to the same standards. Here’s the thing: Public schools must publish test results and financial records. Private schools taking public money often do not. Public dollars go into private schools while accountability falls into a black hole.

The inescapable truth is that the state’s policy does not function as advertised. It has become a misleading sleight of hand designed to make parents believe they’re improving public schools by injecting healthy competition into the system, whereas in reality, the vast majority of kids in public schools remain there, where the voucher system robs them of vital resources. Consider that schools don’t get to turn off the lights in one classroom or lay off half a teacher because five students leave. Building maintenance, transportation, utilities, and staffing costs remain. So the problem of “failing public schools” gets worse.

And the situation isn’t likely to improve. As voucher programs expand statewide, the price tag will grow rapidly. What began as a targeted pilot program could become a multi-hundred-million-dollar commitment. Because so many politicians have staked their reputations on making this system work, there is tremendous political pressure to expand it. What was once described as a lifeline for low-income families is morphing into a broad entitlement program for the wealthy. It’s a classic case of socialism for the rich and rugged individualism for everyone else.

Unfortunately, the Arkansas experience is not unique. The state of Arizona implemented a similar program and is seeing similar results: voucher funds are disproportionately claimed by wealthy families, leaving middle- and lower-income families behind. Politicians in the state legislature recently expanded the voucher system to include all children, regardless of family income. The result? Voucher spending is approaching $1 billion annually — far beyond original projections. The regrettable result is that public dollars increasingly flow to families at the top of the income ladder, where their children receive better education, perpetuating a wealth gap spanning generations.

If a family wishes to send their child to private school, that is their right. But should taxpayers foot the bill?

“School Choice” rhetoric promises liberation for students stuck in failing schools. In reality, it subsidizes families who were never in the public system in the first place. It promises relief for struggling communities. It delivers higher costs and shrinking public school budgets. It promises accountability through competition. It produces less transparency and weaker oversight.

Before Missouri or any other state expands its voucher programs, it must consider data from states that have already walked this road. Are we fortifying public education or quietly dismantling it?

The real work of improving education is harder than simply handing out vouchers. It involves investing in teachers, modernizing facilities, updating curricula, supporting special education, and addressing poverty-related barriers that affect student performance. It requires long-term commitment and honest budgeting. It also requires bold actions from politicians willing to stand up to pressure from entities pushing the disastrous “School Choice” narrative.

The evidence is there. The numbers are clear. The question is whether we are willing to look at them and recommit to a public school system that has proven its worth for two centuries, or trade reality for the comforting promise of unicorns and rainbows.

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