Public funds belong in public schools. That's why we must stop vouchers in SC!
Every child deserves public schools that give them a sense of belonging, the opportunity to thrive, and prepare them with the real-world skills they need to follow their dreams. But S. 62—the latest voucher bill—will send public dollars to unaccountable private schools that can discriminate against children and families.
If our legislators want to help every student thrive, they must focus on undoing the damage from decades of underfunding our public schools, ending the educator shortage crisis, hiring enough trained staff to care for students’ physical and mental health, and keeping our students and communities safe from the preventable epidemic of gun violence.
We need to come together and let our elected officials in Columbia know that SC educators, parents, and communities oppose vouchers. Take action now and tell our lawmakers to keep vouchers out of SC!
The Truth About Vouchers
Over 90% of students attend public schools. Their education and their futures must be our top priority. From American Presidents to American playwrights, from Supreme Court Justices to Silicon Valley tycoons, our most influential and notable fellow citizens prepared for their future in public schools just like our car mechanics and caregivers, coders and custodians.
Private school voucher schemes have a long, shady history rooted in segregation. Further, studies have shown that vouchers today are not just ineffective but also harmful to the students who use them.
That's why wealthy private interests often try to "rebrand" vouchers with names like "education savings accounts," "education scholarships," and "education trust funds." However, the truth is clear.
Quick Facts about Private School Vouchers
Vouchers consistently lead to drops in student achievement.
Numerous recent studies, including one in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, have shown that vouchers can result in learning losses, particularly in math but also in reading, science, and social studies.
States with private school vouchers are struggling with the programs' cost and lack of transparency and accountability.
Unlike public schools, private schools accepting vouchers take public dollars without saying how the money is spent. They are not required to do financial audits or disclose staff salaries or administrative costs. Across the country, millions have been lost to waste, fraud, and abuse at private schools, with no guarantee that public funds money goes into the classroom to support students.
Many private school voucher bills are enacted with limits and funding sources that expand drastically once implemented.
Most private school voucher programs in place across the country first passed with limits on eligibility and use that are later expanded to universal eligibility. In fact, increasingly, vouchers are used by families who were already enrolled in private schools, offering wealthy or well-connected parents a discount on their tuition at the expense of public school families. In addition, initial legislation for private school vouchers often utilizes a funding source that bill sponsors and wealthy interests can claim are not taking direct funding from public schools. However, the bait and switch strategy of school voucher proponents often involves changing the funding source as vouchers expand, directly impacting public school funds.
Private school vouchers send public funds to schools that can discriminate.
Voucher programs leave out wide swaths of students, especially Black and brown students as well as those living in rural areas with no or limited access to private schools. Further, unlike public schools that welcome all students, private schools using public funds through vouchers can (and some do) deny admission based on race, disability, religion, and any other number of factors.
Private school vouchers are a threat to community resources and programs like sports.
Enrollment drops in big cities and small towns that result from vouchers put sports teams, food distribution programs, and other critical community supports at risk. Rural communities are particularly vulnerable to the harm that vouchers can inflict on public education as a whole. That's why many brave state legislators across the country fight back against private school voucher schemes regardless of their party's platform.
Share the Truth about Vouchers!
You can stop vouchers in SC!
No matter how you look at it, vouchers undermine strong public education and student opportunity.
We've seen what happens to other states when they pass voucher schemes: accountability for public funds decreases, cost to taxpayers skyrockets, and the very students our elected officials claim to want to help are the ones who suffer as a result.
