“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” - President Ronald Reagan
#1 School vouchers have nothing to do with school choice
We already have school choice (education freedom) in every state. You can choose to send your children to a public school, a private school, a co-op (in most states), or you can homeschool. The right to homeschool your children (in some form) is guaranteed as part of the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution and the Supreme Court has ruled multiple times that you, as a parent, have the right to teach your own children. And although most states require that your children must receive instruction for a certain number of days in the year, and you may have to teach specific subjects of study or even have your children pass standardized tests, you most certainly have a guaranteed right the homeschool. Alternatively, you can send your child to public school or a private school (both of which may be regulated by the state). In all cases, you have school choice already.
What these laws actually do is allow big government bureaucracies (disguised as “help”) to be more involved in your household and your household finances. They are creating a huge legal mess for homeschool families and DO NOT help our communities. The power of the state to tax and provide benefits is a power to control people, which is exactly what will eventually be done. We should never trust unelected bureacracts to be involved so directly in our household or our household finances, which is exactly what school voucher programs do.
And if you're thinking, "Sure, but I live in a Republican controlled state (such as Tennessee, Kentucky, or Texas); the governor/legislature/courts would never exert control over my household in such a way", then take a look at the electoral map from the 1976 presidential election, when Jimmy Carter was elected. Less than 50 years ago, Democrats controlled those states before Ronald Reagan came into office four years later. And when Democrats get into power, they have historically used that power to control the people in any way that they can. Even Republicans are not above using the levers of government to control the freedoms of the people.
#2 School voucher programs are a means to control home education and private schooling
School choice voucher laws open the possibility of more homeschool government regulation and overreach. Take a look at this link to see how this happens: link. Here are some examples:
Church sues Maine for requiring schools to adhere to LGBT policy to be eligible for tuition program. See link here
#3 School voucher programs enable corruption
American taxpayers have been rightfully outraged at the waste and corruption that DOGE is uncovering. DOGE has already discovered billions of dollars of spending fraud in the SSI, SNAP, USAID, Section 8, Medicaid, and FEMA programs, and they have only just started investigating. These programs are all laced with massive fraud, wasteful spending, tyranny, and mismanagement and we can expect that the same thing will occur in these school voucher programs (which is already happening, see below). Whenever the government is allowed to have a greater level of control of your money, you can expect that there will be some malfeasance, great or small. We the people know that everything the government funds or manages gets worse over time, even when these programs begin with the best of intentions. And even though only a few states have passed school choice voucher bills, these states are already making news due to their bad legislation. Here are some examples of how vouchers are terrible for the school choice community and for tax payers.
#4 Vouchers are very expensive for tax payers
It costs Arizona $332M to pay for vouchers subsidizing private school tuition, homeschooling: See link.
Voucher costs are out of control - it is costing states a lot of money: See link.
“During the 2024 - 2025 school year, the West Virginia voucher program is expected to funnel $21.6 million away from the state’s public schools–enough to pay the salaries for 301 professional teachers and 63 school service workers. As a result of the voucher and other declines in enrollment, multiple school districts are already warning residents that they need to impose property tax increases in order to continue to pay current teachers’ salaries.” See link.
#5 Vouchers create "big"government bureaucracy
Florida school voucher payments are late getting to private schools due to the middle man they created by passing school choice bills. https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/some-school-owners-say-florida-voucher-program-problems-remain
Judge hears arguments in case alleging Utah’s ‘school choice’ program is unconstitutional https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2024/12/20/judge-hears-arguments-lawsuit-utah-school-choice-voucher/
A Better Alternative
The key argument for school voucher programs is that it enables parents to re-direct their money to either: a) send their kids to a private school, or b) homeschool, instead of funding a public school system that they do not use. Rather than have the state take money from families and then re-distribute it, states should do one of these (any or all of them) instead, which limits the government from controlling payments to families:
For public schools funded through property taxes: have the parents declare the number of children of school age that are not attending public school and then reduce their property taxes appropriately or apply an appropriate credit per child to their income taxes (for renters).
For public schools funded through income taxes: have the parents declare the number of children of school age that are not attending public school in their income tax return and apply an appropriate credit per child.
For public schools funded through sales taxes: have the parents declare the number of children of school age that are not attending public school in their income tax return and apply an appropriate credit per child.
Any or all of these could be used, depending upon each state's tax system. But regardless of which method is used, for parents to gain access to the funding all they have to do is:
Legally assert that they have children of school age, and
Legally assert that they are using an alternative than public schooling.
These are both easy to test for since our tax forms already include our children as dependents.
The homeschool community needs your help to stop these laws!
I wish we could be informed voters who simply show up at the polls during an election after researching ballot initiatives. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We must all be proactive and diligent in protecting school choice.
Our legal representatives often do not give us as option to vote on many important laws, like school choice bills. Instead, they write and vote on sometimes tyrannical laws in a congressional setting behind closed doors or with limited exposure to the public. This makes it so instead of just showing up to vote a few times a year at the polls, American citizens have to contact our representatives, attend congressional hearings and have elaborate social media activist campaigns in order to protect our freedoms. We have to do this, as our freedom is at stake.
Click here to see our list of true ways to support school choice
This site is not monetized. Your support is appreciated. Please share and follow us on FB.
Commenti