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
View Explainer
Illustration of a man holding oversized money.
Nuthawut Somsuk/iStock/Getty
Education Funding School Funding Debates Are Raging in States, With Districts Caught in the Middle
School choice, historically inequitable funding, political partisanship, and funding predictability are among the issues at stake.
Mark Lieberman, July 14, 2023
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6 min read
Illustration of a schoolhouse in a shopping cart
Getty Images
School Choice & Charters Private School Choice Programs Are Having a Moment. But It's Not All Smooth Sailing
Several states have passed private school choice programs with universal eligibility. But some have seen road bumps as they implement them.
Mark Lieberman, June 16, 2023
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9 min read
A parent and child looking at 2 different schools
DigitalVision/Getty
School Choice & Charters 6 More States Will Soon Let Almost All Students Attend Private School With Public Money
So far this year, 14 states passed laws and lawmakers in 42 states introduced bills to expand private school choice.
Libby Stanford, June 15, 2023
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7 min read
Illustration of a large hand inserting a coin into the top of a stack of books
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School Choice & Charters Do Vouchers and ESAs Take Money From Public Schools? How States Fund School Choice
Republican state lawmakers have ramped up programs that dedicate public funds for parents to spend on their children’s private education.
Mark Lieberman, May 8, 2023
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7 min read
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., talks with reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., talks with reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, in late January.
Susan Walsh/AP
Federal Q&A Boosting 'Pathetically Low' Teacher Pay Is Top of Mind for Bernie Sanders
The progressive senator from Vermont spoke with Education Week as he prepares to chair the Senate's education committee.
Libby Stanford, February 1, 2023
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6 min read
Students and teachers from East High School in Salt Lake City walk out of school to protest the HB15 voucher bill, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. Several years of pandemic restrictions and curriculum battles have emboldened longtime advocates of funneling public funds to private and religious schools in statehouses throughout the country.
Students and teachers from East High School in Salt Lake City walk out of school on Jan. 25, 2023, to protest legislation that would create private-school vouchers in the state. Several years of pandemic restrictions and curriculum battles have emboldened longtime advocates of funneling public funds to private and religious schools in statehouses throughout the country.
Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP
School Choice & Charters The Push for School Choice Is Accelerating
States across the country are considering sweeping school choice bills that would send public funds to private schools.
Libby Stanford, January 27, 2023
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6 min read
Group of white paper planes going in one direction on a light blue background with one individual red paper plane heading in a different direction
E+/Getty
School Choice & Charters Q&A Voucher Programs Gain Strength With Help From the Courts, An Expert Says
A school choice expert explains how recent rulings could prevent future voucher programs from getting blocked by opponents.
Mark Lieberman, December 22, 2022
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8 min read
Ellen Weaver, the Republican nominee for South Carolina superintendent of education, speaks at U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan's Faith & Freedom BBQ ahead of the keynote speaker, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022, in Anderson, S.C.
Ellen Weaver, the Republican nominee for South Carolina superintendent of education, speaks at U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan's Faith & Freedom BBQ in Anderson, S.C.
Meg Kinnard/AP
States K-12 Insider or Conservative Advocate? Stark Choice in One State Superintendent's Race
A think tank CEO and a high school English teacher battle it out for South Carolina's top K-12 job.
Libby Stanford, October 14, 2022
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8 min read
Student with backpack.
surasaki/iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters Mich. Public School Advocates Launch Effort to Stop DeVos-Backed Proposal
The former secretary of education is backing an initiative that advocates say would create an unconstitutional voucher system.
Samuel J. Robinson, mlive.com, March 17, 2022
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4 min read
The Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington on Nov. 6, 2020.
The Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington on Nov. 6, 2020.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court to Weigh Maine's Exclusion of Religious Schools From 'Tuitioning' Program
The justices will decide whether a tuition aid program for towns without public high schools must include religious schools.
Mark Walsh, July 2, 2021
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8 min read
School Choice & Charters Briefly Stated Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed
A collection of stories from the previous week that you may have missed.
October 20, 2020
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8 min read
School Choice & Charters What the Supreme Court's Ruling on Religious Schools Means in Practice
Groups on all sides of the debate over private school choice agree that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling will be tremendously consequential. But it may take some time for the ripple effects to spread.
Evie Blad, June 30, 2020
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7 min read
Equity & Diversity Briefly Stated Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed

Tennessee Voucher Law Ruled Unconstitutional; Gov. Shifts Strategies

May 11, 2020
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6 min read
School Choice & Charters Court Bars Tennessee From Starting School Voucher Program
A court said legislators violated the state's constitution when they passed a law that targeted specific areas to be included in the program without local consent.
Evie Blad, May 5, 2020
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2 min read
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