ERIC Number: ED671494
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
School Vouchers and the Growing Threat to Public Education. Issue Brief
First Focus on Children
Universal voucher policies allow any student, regardless of their family income level or history of attending public schools, to be eligible to use public funding to attend private, often religious, schools or home schooling. From 2021 to 2025, the number of statewide universal voucher programs has gone from zero to thirteen. These efforts have succeeded despite low public support for vouchers. When asked directly about vouchers, voters refuse them. Since 1970, voters have rejected the creation or expansion of private school vouchers every time they have been proposed. Despite the consistent rejection of policies that siphon public funds from private schools, billionaire donors have remained committed to privatization policies. Billionaires have backed the push for public school vouchers and have funded opposition campaigns against those who oppose them. This article examines why billionaires have been pushing private school vouchers, which largely benefit the wealthy and harm low-income students and schools.
Descriptors: Educational Vouchers, Private Schools, Educational Finance, Privatization, Educational Policy, Politics of Education, Presidents, Elementary Secondary Education, Program Effectiveness, Public Education, Social Bias, Low Income Students, At Risk Students, Gender Discrimination, Racism, Rural Areas, Poverty
First Focus on Children.1400 Eye Street NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-657-0670; Fax: 202-657-0671; Web site: https://firstfocus.org/
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: First Focus on Children
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A