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Pro and Con: School Vouchers

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To access extended pro and con arguments, sources, and discussion questions about whether state should have school voucher programs, go to ProCon.org.

School vouchers are state- or school district-funded scholarships that allow students to attend a private school of the family’s choice rather than sending the child to public school.

According to EdChoice, in the 2018-2019 school year, 18 states and DC had one or more voucher programs: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin. At least 188,424 students received vouchers that school year.

Though two state voucher programs have existed since the 19th century—Vermont (1869) and Main (1873)—the current debate began with the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, instituted in 1990.

In 2002, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Ohio’s Cleveland Scholarship Program in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris. The ruling held that the voucher program did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, even if vouchers were used for religious schools.

Pro

  • Vouchers allow parents to choose their child’s education.
  • School vouchers improve education in general by making public schools compete with private schools for students in a free market.
  • School vouchers allow school districts to overcome racial and other segregations.
  • School vouchers offer students in failing schools access to a better education.

Con

  • Tax dollars are intended for the better secular education of all children, not the private religious education of a few.
  • School vouchers funnel money away from already-struggling public schools and children and redistribute tax dollars to private schools and middle-class children.
  • School vouchers fail to accommodate and support disabled and special-needs students.
  • School vouchers do not improve students’ academic performance.

This article was published on November 19, 2020, at Britannica’s ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source.