Again and again and again, voters have rejected school vouchers and other privatization schemes that attempt to defund and dismantle the nonsectarian public schools that 90% of U.S. families choose.
The mandate from the American people to their state and federal lawmakers is clear: Support public schools.
Earlier today, the Trump Administration issued yet another executive order that directly contradicts the will of the people. They justify their wholly unpopular position on school privatization by alluding to a “growing body of rigorous research.” This is a lie.
Decades of independent research increasingly demonstrates vouchers do not work. In fact, they exacerbate racial and socioeconomic segregation and lead to declines in academic outcomes. Families in rural areas are particularly harmed by the funding cuts to public schools that accompany these voucher schemes.
And far from saving taxpayers money, privatization policies have proven to be egregiously, unsustainably expensive and rife with abuse. For what? The data shows the primary beneficiaries of so-called “school choice” are the corporations who receive exceedingly generous tax credits and the wealthy families who would have sent their children to private schools even without aid.
In states like Iowa, religious schools have more than doubled their tuition rates in order to rake in taxpayer dollars while continuing to keep certain families out. The President’s order to “expand opportunities for low-income, working families” indicates he and his Administration either fundamentally fail to understand how these programs operate or, more likely, they don’t actually care about the real-world impact that school privatization policies have on the tens of millions of Americans who choose public schools.
Private and parochial schools can, by law, discriminate against students and their families. They are not held to the same rigorous standards as public schools. Until and unless private schools agree to play by the same rules — including nondiscrimination protections and local control — they should not receive a single dollar of taxpayer money.
American Atheists will continue to work tirelessly with partners across the country to protect students’ civil rights, defend the separation of religion and government, and ensure that nonsectarian public education receives the funding and support it needs to serve all of our nation’s students.
