Texas lawmakers are considering school voucher programs among other proposed legislation, and every Texan should know that this is a bad idea. Why? Because school voucher programs emerged from the Jim Crow South to maintain racial segregation and fail to raise student achievement.
Voucher programs allow parents to use taxpayer money to subsidize private school education, aid that often comes in the form of private school tuition, tax credits or scholarships. Supporters of vouchers ignore research showing its shortcomings and rebranded it as a mechanism to promote parental “choice.”
The choice that vouchers present is a farce. No rational Texan wants to choose an education policy that does not deliver results and also defunds public education, promotes discrimination against children with disabilities, and uses tax dollars to subsidize tuition for wealthy families who already send their children to private schools. Vouchers are a scam because that’s exactly what will happen if passed in this legislative session.
Consider the Milwaukee voucher program. It has been around for about 30 years and has produced no improvements in student achievement outcomes for students receiving vouchers while harming the local district due to a loss of enrollment and funding.
Voucher programs in Louisiana, New York City and Washington, D.C., have also all failed to produce improved outcomes and in some cases led to significant declines in achievement, especially for low-income…
