John,

Donald Trump and congressional Republicans’ budget would add $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit, would leave 16 million people without health insurance¹, and would mean 2 million children could lose food assistance altogether or see their SNAP assistance significantly cut.² It will also help defund public schools, which is what was laid out in Project 2025.

The provisions in the House-passed budget bill supercharge school vouchers by giving 100% tax deductions on payments to private schools, and allow wealthy families to benefit from a capital gains tax loophole on gifts of stock to private schools—while similar charitable donations receive no such tax incentive.³

School vouchers create a two-tiered education system—one well-funded and selective, the other starved and struggling. This inequity will have consequences that last for generations to come and particularly harm rural and underresourced communities.

Send a message to Congress and tell them to reject the school voucher proposals in the budget bill.

Decades of research show that voucher programs don’t improve educational outcomes. In fact, students who use vouchers often fall behind their peers in public schools. Meanwhile, public schools are left with fewer resources, larger class sizes, and greater challenges.

The reconciliation bill passed by the House would make all of this worse. By supercharging tax breaks for private school tuition or donations, it encourages the wealthy to redirect their money—and our tax dollars—away from public schools and into corporate hands.

That’s not education policy. That’s exploitation—funded by tax giveaways to the wealthy.

My two children are in public schools, and all of our children deserve better. They deserve well-funded, inclusive public schools that offer every student the opportunity to succeed. And our elected leaders should be fighting to strengthen those schools—not tear them down piece by piece.

Send a message to Congress calling on them to vote against a national voucher program in the current budget package.

Thanks for all you do,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, CHN Action

¹ CBO, Estimated Effects on the Number of Uninsured People in 2034 Resulting From Policies Incorporated Within CBO’s Baseline Projections and H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
² House Reconciliation Bill Proposes Deepest SNAP Cut in History, Would Take Food Assistance Away From Millions of Low-Income Families
³ House Tax Bill Enlists the Wealthy to Spread Private School Vouchers

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Public schools are under attack. In the budget bill that recently passed the House, some provisions would divert taxpayer dollars away from public schools and funnel them into private school voucher programs. The House bill adds unprecedented dollar-for-dollar tax breaks for donations to private school voucher programs that further favor the wealthy. These schemes do nothing to improve education, but they do defund and destabilize the very schools that serve the vast majority of our children.

Privatization advocates are pushing for a national private school voucher program that would create a multi-billion-dollar handout to corporations, private schools, and the wealthy, while decimating public schools, especially those in rural areas, that are already grossly underfunded.

Voucher programs are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. While they promise “choice,” the real result is exclusion. Private schools accepting vouchers don’t have to follow the same civil rights protections or academic standards as public schools, and they often reject students based on disability, religion, gender identity, or academic performance.¹ Meanwhile, public schools are left with fewer resources and greater challenges. We need to strengthen public education, not weaken it by siphoning off funding.

Every child deserves a great public school in their neighborhood, regardless of their race, income, or ZIP code. Instead of diverting funds to school vouchers, that money is better spent on investing in public schools.

Send a message to Congress urging them to reject a national school voucher program and invest in public schools today.

We’ve seen this play out on the state level: lawmakers divert unprecedented amounts of money away from public schools and towards private ones, causing public schools to close—hitting working class Black and brown communities, and rural school districts the hardest.

Evidence overwhelmingly supports the claim that private school vouchers are a failed policy. Instead of focusing on private school vouchers that benefit only small numbers of students, lawmakers must invest in solutions that advance opportunity for the 90% of U.S. students who attend public schools.² These solutions include supporting the equitable full funding of public schools, providing higher teacher pay, and guaranteeing free breakfast and lunch for all students. Instead of giving tax breaks to the rich, let’s invest in our children and improve our public schools.

The bill sent to the Senate supercharges incentives for the wealthy to donate to private school voucher programs by making those contributions 100 percent deductible!—and providing this unprecedented give-away at the same time the bill reduces incentives to donate to other charities like hospitals or anti-hunger programs.³

Join us in calling on Congress to reject funding for private school vouchers in the budget bill. Send a message to your senators now.

Thanks for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Rockville Catholic school’s hairstyle policies face scrutiny for racial discrimination
² National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Public School Enrollment. Condition of Education.
³ House Tax Bill Enlists the Wealthy to Spread Private School Vouchers