Vouchers

Education news, analysis, and opinion about public funding which can be used to fund students’ private school tuition

Explainer

Supporters of school vouchers rally in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 24, in hopes of persuading state lawmakers to approve a voucher program that would provide public money to families to help pay tuition at private and religious schools.
What Are School Vouchers and How Do They Work?
Few topics in education incite as much debate as vouchers, which steer public money to families to pay for students to attend private school
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The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Choice & Charters Opinion The Biggest Things People Don’t Know About School Choice
The school choice debate is rife with urban myths and dubious claims.
Rick Hess, September 9, 2025
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8 min read
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Getty
Education Funding State Funding for Schools Is a Mess This Year, Too. Here's Why
The Trump administration's school funding disruptions have drawn significant attention, but schools are challenged by state budgets, too.
Mark Lieberman, August 29, 2025
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12 min read
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the Tennessee state legislature on Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. After the passage of the first federal tax-credit scholarship, all states will have to decide whether to opt into the new program.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters Tracker Federal Private School Choice: Which States Are Opting In?
Education Week is tracking state decisions on the first major federal program that directs public funds to private schools.
Brooke Schultz & Lynn (Yunfei) Liu, August 27, 2025
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2 min read
Students walk from buses into Daviess County Middle School on the first day of classes for Daviess County Public Schools, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Owensboro, Ky.
Students walk from buses into Daviess County Middle School on the first day of classes for Daviess County Public Schools on Aug. 12, 2025, in Owensboro, Ky. Parents generally give public education low marks, but they don't believe the U.S. Department of Education should be dismantled.
Greg Eans/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP
Families & the Community What Americans Really Think of Public Schools
Americans continue to give a higher grade to their local schools than to the nation's education system as a whole, a new poll finds.
Evie Blad, August 19, 2025
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5 min read
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. The One, Big Beautiful Bill Act championed by President Donald Trump includes the first federal school voucher program. States will decide whether to opt in to the offering.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters Opt In or Not? States Weigh Big Decision on Federal School Vouchers
A new federal program provides tax credits for donations to groups that provide private-school scholarships.
Brooke Schultz, August 4, 2025
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7 min read
The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington, early Monday, June 30, 2025, as Republicans plan to begin a final push to advance President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package.
The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington early on June 30, 2025, hours before Republicans narrowly passed President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package. The bill includes the first major federal private school choice program.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal The Senate Passed a Federal Voucher Program. What's in It?
The measure would create a national program funding private school tuition through tax credits, though states would have to opt in.
Brooke Schultz, July 2, 2025
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7 min read
President Donald Trump speaks as reporters raise their hands to ask questions, Friday, June 27, 2025, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks as reporters raise their hands to ask questions, June 27, 2025, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington. The Senate parliamentarian has rejected a slew of provisions in what's known as Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, including one for a nationwide private school choice program.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
School Choice & Charters Federal Private School Choice Proposal Hits a Roadblock. Will Congress Persist?
Including tax-credit scholarships in Trump's tax cut package violates Senate rules.
Mark Lieberman, June 27, 2025
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5 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Choice & Charters Opinion The School Choice Landscape Is Shifting
What could two Supreme Court rulings—one recent and one impending—mean for educators and parents?
Rick Hess, June 10, 2025
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8 min read
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Trump's second week in the White House featured his first direct foray into policymaking aimed directly at schools.
Evan Vucci/AP
Federal Title IX, School Choice, ‘Indoctrination’—How Trump Took on Schools in Week 2
It was a week in which the newly inaugurated president began wholeheartedly to act on his agenda for schools.
Brooke Schultz, January 31, 2025
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8 min read
President Donald Trump signs a document in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump signs a document in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP
Federal What's in Trump's New Executive Orders on Indoctrination and School Choice
The White House has no authority over curriculum, and no ability to unilaterally pull back federal dollars, but Trump is toeing the line.
Brooke Schultz, January 30, 2025
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9 min read
budget school funding
iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters Private School Choice Will Keep Expanding in 2025. Here's Where and How
The conditions are ripe in at least a dozen states for proposals to invest public dollars in private educational options for families.
Mark Lieberman, January 10, 2025
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12 min read
Image of research, data, and a data dashboard
Collage via iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters Private School Choice: What the Research Says
Private school choice programs are proliferating as debates continue about their effects on low-income students and public schools.
Mark Lieberman, October 10, 2024
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7 min read
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filo/DigitalVision Vectors
School Choice & Charters States Are Spending Billions on Private School Choice. But Is It Truly Universal?
More than half a million students in eight states last school year took advantage of private school choice open to all students.
Mark Lieberman, October 8, 2024
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7 min read
3D illustration of a character walking on the road leading to many different paths with open doors. The pathway and doors are light in color against a dark blue backgroud.
iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters Private School Choice in the 2024 Election, Explained
Three states will ask voters to weigh in on private school choice, and another state could pave the way for more funding for choice.
Mark Lieberman, September 19, 2024
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7 min read
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