This week, the Tennessee General Assembly is holding a special session to address several key legislative issues, including the Education Freedom Act, which aims to expand the state's universal school voucher program. The latest fiscal analysis indicates that this could cost the state up to a billion dollars over the next five years. Under this proposal, about 20,000 students would be eligible for a $7,075 voucher allotment. Likewise, there’s funding for a one-time bonus for teachers and some assistance for public school systems losing students to these vouchers. As we carefully evaluate the long-term effects of this program’s potential implementation, a significant concern is that 65 percent of current private school students could benefit from these vouchers, which will essentially subsidize families who are already paying for private school education and tuition.
Last month the Economic Policy Institute released a report entitled: “How Vouchers Harm Public Schools: Calculating The Cost of Voucher Programs to Public School Districts.” The report questions “whether letting public money leave the public school system and subsidize private forms of schooling is a way to improve children’s access to an excellent education.” By measuring some of the “fiscal externalities” vouchers will have on public schools, which are the dollar costs to school districts from students leaving public schools with a voucher, the report seeks to “put a number to the reality that children who don’t participate in voucher programs will still bear the cost for educational choices that others make”.
In sum, the report asserts that voucher programs threaten the financial stability of public schools by encouraging enrollment declines, which in turn siphons off resources that are crucial for maintaining quality education. It outlines how such programs create fiscal pressure on local schools through providing a tool to estimate the hidden costs of vouchers and their potential long-term effects on both funding and student outcomes. Ultimately, the report contends that universal vouchers destabilize our educational system at a time when we should be focused on strengthening it.
There are other aspects about universal voucher expansion that are extremely problematic. A 2024 analysis from the Brookings Institution (Arizona’s ‘universal’ education savings account program has become a handout to the wealthy, 2024), found that Arizona’s “universal” Education Savings Account program has disproportionately benefited wealthier families. Despite the program's intention to provide financial assistance for a wider range of students, it’s been found that families in the wealthiest, most advantaged communities are using the ESA funds at much higher rates. In contrast, families in the poorest communities are the least likely to access these funds. This pattern suggests that the program may be falling short of its intended goal to support disadvantaged students and is instead becoming a financial benefit for wealthier families.
Similarly, a 2024 Washington Post analysis lays out a disturbing trend associated with universal school voucher implementation across the country; public money is flooding into private religious schools at an alarming rate. In Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida and Arizona, billions in taxpayer dollars are being funneled into voucher programs, draining resources from the public schools that serve all children. The numbers are staggering—98 percent of Indiana’s vouchers and 96 percent of Wisconsin’s go to religious schools. In Florida, it’s more than 80 percent. Notwithstanding, last year the Tennessee Department of Education found that 84 percent of the 75 schools participating in the state's voucher program are either parochial or private religious institutions.
Correspondingly, in December, News 4 in Tucson uncovered a troubling story about Arizona's voucher program, shedding light on a series of fraudulent activities and misuse of funds. Among the most egregious cases was the purchase of a $16,000 cello. Other instances involved individuals enrolling 50 children in the program, with 43 being entirely fictitious, costing taxpayers more than $110,000. Additional abuses included attempts to purchase a $40,000 solar-powered air conditioner and a ham radio under the pretext of educational use, as well as recreational motorized dune buggies worth nearly $2,000. Some even exploited a fast-track reimbursement policy for purchases under $75 to stock up on Amazon gift cards. These incidents underscore the serious lack of oversight and accountability within the program.
Further, as we stated in an earlier commentary, in North Carolina there were reports where some schools received more vouchers than they had students. There are further instances where voucher recipients from states across the country have made highly questionable purchases like theme park tickets, kayaks, trampolines and yes, in one instance, a chicken coop.
It does beg to question, will one be able to use universal voucher funds to build a chicken coop in Tennessee? Upon reviewing the way Tennessee’s potential legislation is written and crafted, that question very likely will be yes. The Education Freedom Act states vouchers can be used for:
Textbooks, curricula, instructional materials, and uniforms required by the private school;
Computer hardware, technological devices, and other technology fees that meet the requirements established by the department and that are used for the recipient's educational needs.
Tuition, fees, textbooks, curricula, and instructional materials for summer academic programs and specialized afterschool academic programs that meet the requirements established by the department, but not afterschool childcare.
With language so vague and ambiguous its not hard to see how waste and fraud both has and could be allowed to run wild, including for gaming software, amazon gift cards, and yes curriculum that highlights how to build a chicken coop.
Waste and mismanagement prompted Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to release a plan to increase accountability and transparency in Arizona’s ESA voucher program, which is projected to cost nearly $1 billion this fiscal year. Her proposal includes background checks for private school educators; stricter financial oversight; protections for students with disabilities; and new transparency measures to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly. Governor Hobbs would say in an official statement, “The ESA program lacks accountability and transparency…With this plan, we can keep students safe, protect taxpayer dollars, and give parents and students the information they need to make an informed choice about their education.”
During last year’s public debate on universal school vouchers, it was our estimation that the program as designed was, “ineffective, inefficient and inequitable.” This year, as currently constructed, the Education Freedom Act is, “unsustainable, unreliable and unjust.” This issue is not about choice. It is about quietly dismantling public education. Here is the hard truth, when we take public money and hand it to private institutions—especially ones that can pick and choose their students—we abandon the very idea of education as a public good. Public schools are the backbone of our communities. They take in every child, no matter their background, ability or income. They answer to taxpayers, not private boards with their own agendas. But if we keep stripping them of resources, we will wake up to find our neighborhood schools gutted, struggling to stay open while private institutions thrive on public dollars with little oversight.
A decision that will affect schools and districts throughout the state, rural and urban, merits greater public discourse, fiscal analysis, and research-based evidence. For these reasons, the Unity Group of Chattanooga is fundamentally opposed to the passage of the Education Freedom Act. It is our estimation that the program as crafted will do little more than usher in a new era of Separate but Equal; and for the sake of our children, we must be better than that. The General Assembly must tread lightly on this issue and do what is in the public good and be concerned with the good of the whole.
As Dr. King noted, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.” We must guard against instituting a system that would be “unsustainable, unreliable and unjust”, and act in love for the sake of all our schools and students.
Eric Atkins
Unity Group of Chattanooga