School Vouchers Undermine Public Education and the Common Good

School Vouchers are currently a popular topic among politicians and interest groups pushing to defund public schools and shift taxpayer funds to private for-profit or religious institutions. “By funneling public taxpayer money away from public schools, [vouchers] whittle away the ability to provide a high-quality education that is free at the point of service to all children in a community. This allows continued claims of a failing public education system. Yet, what is truly at stake is the future of a system that operates for the common good.” 

The arguments to promote vouchers often use language like parental “choice,” but they fail to accurately convey that the choice for enrollment rests with private schools — not parents — and that private institutions have little to no public accountability. Nor do these arguments address the sinister history of vouchers as part of efforts to maintain segregation and to remove the obligation of states to provide public education.

Learn more with these three new articles by T. Jameson Brewer, Ph.D., on public schools as a common good, which explore the possibilities and threats to public education in the United States. “Before supporting or applying for vouchers, stop and consider the serious long-term harm to students, families, educators and your community. The dismantling of public education has far-reaching negative impacts for our nation and future.”