Public schools educate 90% of America’s students. They’re open to all students regardless of disability, religion, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Voucher programs divert public funds away from our public schools to fund the education of a few, select students at private, mostly religious, schools.
Private voucher schools often turn away or expel children with disabilities, LGBTQ students, or students and families who do not adhere to the school’s religious code of conduct. And private school vouchers have a sordid history rooted in racism. First created in the South to allow white students to evade integration orders in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education, vouchers were used to fund segregation academies designed to keep black and white students apart.