As North Carolina legislators consider expanding the state’s private school voucher program, alarming outcomes from other states serve as a stark warning of the potential dangers. The dire consequences of Republican private school voucher schemes are becoming clear across the country. Private school voucher program expansions in other states continue to fail, leading to disastrous academic and economic impacts for students, taxpayers and communities.
“Private school voucher programs in other states are hurting students, communities and taxpayers,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “Republican lawmakers in North Carolina need to read the writing on the wall and put a moratorium on private school vouchers until our public schools are fully funded.”
Republican leaders of the North Carolina House and Senate agreed to spend an additional $460 million on private school vouchers that would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest demographic in the state before pausing negotiations. Funds that Republican legislators plan to allocate to their voucher scheme could be used to invest in public schools, including substantial pay raises for teachers. Other states are already facing the consequences of similar private school voucher program expansions.
Recent reporting from ProPublica found that Arizona has a $1.4 billion budget shortfall as a result of their universal voucher program. This budget deficit will impact other projects, including infrastructure projects and community colleges.
In Ohio, an evaluation of the state’s voucher program found that “students who use vouchers to attend private schools have fared worse academically compared to their closely matched peers attending public schools.” Private school vouchers also cost Ohio taxpayers at least $966.2 million during the last school year.
In Louisiana, a study of their voucher program showed that students who used a voucher to switch to private schools who started out at the 50th percentile in math dropped to the 26th percentile in a single year. Participating students also lost ground academically in reading, science, and social studies.
In Indiana, research showed that students who used vouchers had significant losses in math achievement, and that those academic losses persisted for multiple years.
In Washington, DC, research showed that their voucher program resulted in a significantly negative impact on student achievement in math. Researchers determined that the academic loss for students was equivalent to missing 68 days of school.
North Carolina ranks near the bottom of all states in K-12 funding, spending nearly $5,000 less per student than the national average. In beginning teacher pay, North Carolina ranks 46th nationally and 11th out of 12 states in the Southeast.
In April, Governor Cooper released his recommended budget for FY 2024-2025, Securing North Carolina’s Future which would invest over $1 billion in North Carolina’s public schools, raise teacher pay by 8.5% and provide a $1,500 retention bonus for teachers across the board.
Governor Cooper declared 2024 as the Year of Public Schools and has been visiting public schools and early childhood education programs across the state calling for investments in K-12 education, early childhood education and teacher pay.
Read "The Year of Public Schools" proclamation here.
Read more about the truth of North Carolina's voucher program here.
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