John,
Federal voucher programs do not expand opportunity -- they hard-wire inequality into the education system. They create a two-tiered model in which children from wealthy families receive yet another advantage, while working families watch the schools they rely on lose the resources needed to function.
Private education is already available to families with means. Vouchers allow those same families to draw money out of the public system, draining funds from schools that serve everyone else.
Under vouchers, public dollars flow to private schools. Private schools are able to take the public funds, and then raise their tuition above the value of the voucher itself. For affluent families, the gap may be trivial. But for working families, it’s insurmountable.
The result is a system where wealthier parents receive public subsidies on top of their inherited advantages, while families who cannot afford the extra cost are left behind in increasingly underfunded public schools. This is not “choice.” It is a transfer of scarce public resources from the many to the few.
The inequity deepens because voucher-funded private schools are not required to serve all students. They can turn away children with disabilities, multilingual learners, LGBTQ+ students, and those who need additional academic or behavioral support -- precisely the students public schools are legally required to educate. As private schools skim off the wealthiest and easiest to serve students, public schools are left serving higher-need populations with fewer teachers, fewer aides, and fewer dollars.
Governors are now being asked to opt in to a program that guarantees this inequity. Send a direct message to urge your governor to reject the federal voucher program and protect fully funded, inclusive schools for every child in your state now.
Public schools educate nearly 90 percent of America’s children. They provide special education services, mental health counseling, nutrition programs, and classroom support that working families depend on. Federal vouchers siphon money away from these underfunded systems, weakening Title I programs, IDEA services, and school meal programs. The needs do not disappear -- only the funding does.
Governors are now being asked to opt into a program that guarantees this outcome. As private schools raise tuition to capture more public money, public schools must absorb the students private schools reject, while operating with shrinking budgets. The burden falls squarely on children whose families lack wealth to cushion the blow.
States are deciding right now whether to lock in this inequity. Governors who opt in are choosing a system that subsidizes privilege, accelerates segregation, and undermines the promise of public education as a shared foundation for opportunity.
Republican or Democrat, every governor needs to hear this message clearly. Tell your governor to reject the federal voucher program and protect public education for every child in your state.
Thank you for speaking up for the students who most need to be included and who would suffer most from being excluded due to inadequate school funding.
– DFA AF Team
