Conservatives are pushing “school choice” as a key issue this election, with several state legislatures developing school voucher programs to divert taxpayer money intended for public K-12 schools to instead subsidize private school tuition.

These programs – otherwise known as school vouchers – are touted as promoting educational equality by making private schools accessible and affordable for all students. The 2024 Republican National Convention supported “universal school choice” in every state as a means to unburden students from “political meddling” in educational environments.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee cited school choice during the gathering as “the civil rights issue of our time.” Also, Arizona in 2022 adopted the nation’s largest state-wide school voucher program which purports to benefit more than 68,000 students.

However, a growing body of evidence shows school vouchers have the potential to wreak deep monetary and academic havoc on the children those programs claim to serve.

“You’ll hear this message that these programs give a child a chance who might otherwise not have an opportunity, when in reality when they end up in private schools, oftentimes they’re not thriving because there is more to school than academics,” National School Boards Association (NSBA) CEO and Executive Director Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs told Reckon.

The NSBA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing children “excellent and equitable” public education by representing and advocating for state school boards and their members.

Numerous studies have shown a range of adverse educational effects stemming from school voucher programs.

In an analysis of the Opportunity Scholarship Program in Washington D.C., the Institute for Education found students who used school vouchers scored lower in mathematics and reading tests after two years in the program.

The D.C. program offers scholarships of up to $15,000 for public school students to attend private institutions and provide “quality education” regardless of socioeconomic background, but the Center for American Progress found that the effects of the program put students behind in school by more than nine weeks.

Read the full article about school voucher programs by Andrew Fortin-Caldera at Reckon.