I didn't know much about the voucher system until Propublica's coverage of Arizona's enactment of their system this past year. And yikes. The overall result is that people who were already paying for private school are getting compensated with taxpayer money, while those who were not currently attending private school but are interested …
I didn't know much about the voucher system until Propublica's coverage of Arizona's enactment of their system this past year. And yikes. The overall result is that people who were already paying for private school are getting compensated with taxpayer money, while those who were not currently attending private school but are interested have so many barriers to getting there that it's mostly not worth it. Your despondency is earned.
I know I’m terrified of what it will do to Texas. Not to mention you can start your own home school get the money and no accountability tied to it. Both my husband and I work in public education.
While you're absolutely right that private school parents are taxpayers too, I think we need to look at how Arizona's voucher program is playing out in practice. While these families absolutely have the right to send their children to private schools and are indeed taxpayers, the voucher program isn't fulfilling its stated purpose of expanding educational access to families who couldn't otherwise afford it.
The data from Arizona shows a pattern: the majority of voucher recipients are middle and upper-class families who were already sending their children to private schools. Meanwhile, many struggling families find they can't effectively use the vouchers despite technically having access to them.
First, the voucher often doesn't cover the full cost of private school tuition, leaving families to make up the difference. For middle and upper-class families already paying full tuition, the voucher acts as a welcome discount. But for families living paycheck to paycheck, even a partial tuition payment might be out of reach.
Second, there are numerous hidden costs beyond tuition. Transportation isn't provided to private schools, creating a significant barrier for working parents who rely on school bus service. Many private schools have additional fees for required books, uniforms, and technology. These expenses can add up to thousands of dollars that aren't covered by vouchers.
This stands in contrast to the original purpose of school vouchers, as articulated by the Heritage Foundation: to provide "options for low-income families" by breaking "the arbitrary link between a child's housing and the school he or she can attend." Instead of achieving these goals, the current system primarily benefits those who least need the assistance.
I do see your point that the vouchers don’t cover every aspect associated with making private school an option for everyone. As a family member of private school attendees, I can tell you not everyone attending comes from the either the middle or upper classes. Many come from families where both parents work (or single family households) who have made financial and schedule sacrifices elsewhere to afford these opportunities to their children. Many have made these sacrifices in order to move away from the mandated curriculums in the public school system. While the vouchers don’t provide the entire answer, they aren’t merely a “discount” for who you refer to as least needing them.
I appreciate you sharing your personal experience with private schools. Many families make significant sacrifices to afford private education, and I apologize if my use of the word "discount" came across as dismissive of those sacrifices.
I think we need to look at this issue from two angles. First, there's the individual level - where we see families like those you describe making admirable sacrifices to access private education. Then there's the systemic level - where we can examine whether Arizona's voucher program is achieving its stated goal of expanding access to private education for lower-income families who previously couldn't afford it.
The data from Arizona's program implementation tells us that despite the stated intention of helping lower-income families access private education, the program hasn't significantly increased private school accessibility for this demographic. While some working-class families could benefit, most are sidelined by forces outside of their control while the overwhelming majority of voucher users are families who were already in the private school system.
I don't think anyone is expecting perfection from the system, but if its primary effect is to subsidize existing private school attendance rather than expanding access to new families, we should at least be honest about that reality. The organizations backing these initiatives should drop the BS about helping lower income people, acknowledge that they are actually trying to help higher income people, while still supporting the program for other reasons - such as curriculum choice, which you mentioned as an important factor for many families.
Side note, there are many taxpayers, like me, who believe that receiving a taxpayer-funded education should come from the public school system, where you might not agree with everything being taught, but that's a tradeoff you can expect when gathering hundreds or thousands of kids together efficiently. We can't afford to educate every child in tiny bubbles of their parents' choosing with taxpayer money; that's where the private money should come in. I believe that a voucher system ultimately deprives resources from children who have no other option but attend a public school. But that's not really the argument I was trying to make, my opinion matters just as much as yours. (And as a childless dog dad, you might want to weigh the opinions of parents of humans more than me.)
My main point is that the lobbyists/legislators are saying one thing and doing another, which is unacceptable.
I get where your coming from. I do think that just bc both parents work doesn’t mean a family isn’t middle class or even upper class. Also if a private school tuition is $40k a year and a voucher is for $10k, but you only make 50k. No amount of shifting budgets is going to allow you to send your kid to school there. You still need to pay for a roof over your kid’s head, utilities, food, clothing and necessities.
I didn't know much about the voucher system until Propublica's coverage of Arizona's enactment of their system this past year. And yikes. The overall result is that people who were already paying for private school are getting compensated with taxpayer money, while those who were not currently attending private school but are interested have so many barriers to getting there that it's mostly not worth it. Your despondency is earned.
Budget calamity:
https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-school-vouchers-budget-meltdown
Inaccessibility for low income citizens:
https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-school-vouchers-esa-private-schools
Schools shapeshifting to avoid accountability:
https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-private-school-vouchers-no-transparency
I know I’m terrified of what it will do to Texas. Not to mention you can start your own home school get the money and no accountability tied to it. Both my husband and I work in public education.
The folks paying for private school other children also are taxpayers…
While you're absolutely right that private school parents are taxpayers too, I think we need to look at how Arizona's voucher program is playing out in practice. While these families absolutely have the right to send their children to private schools and are indeed taxpayers, the voucher program isn't fulfilling its stated purpose of expanding educational access to families who couldn't otherwise afford it.
The data from Arizona shows a pattern: the majority of voucher recipients are middle and upper-class families who were already sending their children to private schools. Meanwhile, many struggling families find they can't effectively use the vouchers despite technically having access to them.
First, the voucher often doesn't cover the full cost of private school tuition, leaving families to make up the difference. For middle and upper-class families already paying full tuition, the voucher acts as a welcome discount. But for families living paycheck to paycheck, even a partial tuition payment might be out of reach.
Second, there are numerous hidden costs beyond tuition. Transportation isn't provided to private schools, creating a significant barrier for working parents who rely on school bus service. Many private schools have additional fees for required books, uniforms, and technology. These expenses can add up to thousands of dollars that aren't covered by vouchers.
This stands in contrast to the original purpose of school vouchers, as articulated by the Heritage Foundation: to provide "options for low-income families" by breaking "the arbitrary link between a child's housing and the school he or she can attend." Instead of achieving these goals, the current system primarily benefits those who least need the assistance.
I do see your point that the vouchers don’t cover every aspect associated with making private school an option for everyone. As a family member of private school attendees, I can tell you not everyone attending comes from the either the middle or upper classes. Many come from families where both parents work (or single family households) who have made financial and schedule sacrifices elsewhere to afford these opportunities to their children. Many have made these sacrifices in order to move away from the mandated curriculums in the public school system. While the vouchers don’t provide the entire answer, they aren’t merely a “discount” for who you refer to as least needing them.
I appreciate you sharing your personal experience with private schools. Many families make significant sacrifices to afford private education, and I apologize if my use of the word "discount" came across as dismissive of those sacrifices.
I am basing my opinion on this investigation, and extrapolating that it will be common in areas other than Arizona if not enacted with a lot of changes outside of one piece of legislation: https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-school-vouchers-esa-private-schools
I think we need to look at this issue from two angles. First, there's the individual level - where we see families like those you describe making admirable sacrifices to access private education. Then there's the systemic level - where we can examine whether Arizona's voucher program is achieving its stated goal of expanding access to private education for lower-income families who previously couldn't afford it.
The data from Arizona's program implementation tells us that despite the stated intention of helping lower-income families access private education, the program hasn't significantly increased private school accessibility for this demographic. While some working-class families could benefit, most are sidelined by forces outside of their control while the overwhelming majority of voucher users are families who were already in the private school system.
I don't think anyone is expecting perfection from the system, but if its primary effect is to subsidize existing private school attendance rather than expanding access to new families, we should at least be honest about that reality. The organizations backing these initiatives should drop the BS about helping lower income people, acknowledge that they are actually trying to help higher income people, while still supporting the program for other reasons - such as curriculum choice, which you mentioned as an important factor for many families.
Side note, there are many taxpayers, like me, who believe that receiving a taxpayer-funded education should come from the public school system, where you might not agree with everything being taught, but that's a tradeoff you can expect when gathering hundreds or thousands of kids together efficiently. We can't afford to educate every child in tiny bubbles of their parents' choosing with taxpayer money; that's where the private money should come in. I believe that a voucher system ultimately deprives resources from children who have no other option but attend a public school. But that's not really the argument I was trying to make, my opinion matters just as much as yours. (And as a childless dog dad, you might want to weigh the opinions of parents of humans more than me.)
My main point is that the lobbyists/legislators are saying one thing and doing another, which is unacceptable.
I get where your coming from. I do think that just bc both parents work doesn’t mean a family isn’t middle class or even upper class. Also if a private school tuition is $40k a year and a voucher is for $10k, but you only make 50k. No amount of shifting budgets is going to allow you to send your kid to school there. You still need to pay for a roof over your kid’s head, utilities, food, clothing and necessities.