Editing School voucher (section)

===Opponents===
The main critique of school vouchers and education tax credits is that they put public education in competition with private education, threatening to reduce and reallocate public school funding to private schools. Opponents question the belief that private schools are more efficient.

Public school teachers and teacher unions have also fought against school vouchers. In the United States, public school teacher unions,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bender |first=Michael C. |date=June 13, 2008 |title=Local News: West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Martin & St. Lucie Counties |work=The Palm Beach Post |url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/06/13/0613constitutionalamendments.html |access-date=August 11, 2011}}</ref> most notably the [[National Education Association]] (the largest labor union in the US), argue that school vouchers erode educational standards and reduce funding and that giving money to parents who choose to send their child to a religious or other school is unconstitutional. The latter issue was struck down by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] case ''[[Zelman v. Simmons-Harris]]'', which upheld Ohio's voucher plan in a 5–4 ruling.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Getting an Education - The Voucher Controversy - School, Public, Schools, Charter, Private, and Vouchers |url=http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/1661/Getting-an-Education-VOUCHER-CONTROVERSY.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727075759/http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/1661/Getting-an-Education-VOUCHER-CONTROVERSY.html |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |access-date=August 11, 2011 |publisher=Libraryindex.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 30, 2008 |title=Vouchers |url=http://www.nea.org/home/16378.htm |access-date=August 11, 2011 |publisher=NEA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 13, 2008 |title=List of NEA beliefs and legal fights against vouchers |url=http://www.nea.org/home/19133.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807093324/http://www.nea.org/home/19133.htm |archive-date=August 7, 2011 |access-date=August 11, 2011 |publisher=Nea.org}}</ref> In contrast, the use of public-school funding for vouchers to private schools was disallowed by the Louisiana Supreme Court in 2013. The Louisiana Supreme Court did not declare vouchers unconstitutional, just the use of money earmarked for public schools via the Louisiana Constitution for funding Louisiana's voucher program.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Valerie |date=May 7, 2013 |title=Louisiana Supreme Court rules school voucher funding unconstitutional |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/07/louisiana-supreme-court-rules-school-voucher-funding-unconstitutional/}}</ref>  The [[National Education Association]] also points out that access to vouchers is just like "a chance in a lottery" where parents had to be lucky to get a space in this program. Since almost all students and their families would like to choose the best schools, those schools, as a result, quickly reach its maximum capacity number for students that state law permits. Those who did not get vouchers then have to compete again to look for some other less preferred and competitive schools or give up searching and go back to their assigned local schools.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pons |first=Michael |title=School Vouchers: The Emerging Track Record |url=http://www.nea.org/home/16970.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304095505/http://www.nea.org/home/16970.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2013 |access-date=November 20, 2012 |publisher=National Education Association}}</ref> [[Jonathan Kozol]], a prominent public school reform thinker and former public-school teacher called vouchers the "single worst, most dangerous idea to have entered education discourse in my adult life".<ref>Lisa Kaiser, "[http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-5728-an-interview-with-educator-and-activist-jonathan-kozol.html An Interview with Educator and Activist Jonathan Kozol] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209211830/http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-5728-an-interview-with-educator-and-activist-jonathan-kozol.html |date=February 9, 2010 }}", March 4, 2009, Express Milwaukee.com</ref>

The [[National Education Association]] additionally argues that more money should go towards [[public education]] to help the schools struggling and improve the schools overall, instead of reducing the public school's fund to go towards school vouchers.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |title=The Case Against Vouchers |language=en |work=NEA |url=http://www.nea.org/home/19133.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=2018-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419231358/http://www.nea.org/home/19133.htm |archive-date=April 19, 2009}}</ref> Their argument claims that increasing that amount of money that goes towards public education would also increase the amount of resources put into public schools, therefore, improving the education.<ref name=":7" /> This argument made towards school vouchers reflects the way the organization values public education. For example, in an interview in May 2017 regarding [[Donald Trump]]'s 2018 Budget Proposal, the organization's president, [[Lily Eskelsen García]], claimed:

"We should invest in what makes schools great, the things that build curiosity and instill a love of learning. That is what every student deserves and what every parent wants for his or her child. It should not depend on how much their parents make, what language they speak at home, and certainly, not what neighborhood they live in." – National Education Association President [[Lily Eskelsen García]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=NEA President: Trump-DeVos budget is a wrecking ball aimed at public schools |language=en |work=NEA |url=http://www.nea.org/home/70780.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=2018-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425183207/http://www.nea.org/home/70780.htm |archive-date=April 25, 2018}}</ref>

Furthermore, there are multiple studies that support the arguments made by opponents of school vouchers. One of these studies, conducted by the [[Tulane University]]'s Education Research Alliance, consists of observing the relationship between voucher programs and students' test scores. They found that students in the Louisiana voucher program initially had lower test scores, but after three years, their scores matched those of students who stayed in public schools from standardized test scores spanning from 2012 to 2015.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Here's Why Researchers Say Betsy DeVos' Proposed School Voucher Program Won't Work |url=https://time.com/4832923/betsy-devos-trump-administration-school-choice-vouchers/ |magazine=Time |language=en |access-date=2018-04-25}}</ref>

People who can benefit from vouchers may not know it. In April 2012, a bill passed in Louisiana that made vouchers available to low-income families whose children attended poorly ranked schools. A student whose household income was low (up to about $44,000 for a family of three) and who attended a school ranked "C", "D", or "F" could apply for vouchers to attend another.<ref>{{Cite web |title=See Tidmore, C. (2012, April 10). Voucher bill passes |url=http://www.louisianaweekly.com/voucher-bills-pass/}}</ref>  Of the estimated 380,000<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mooney |first=K. |date=March 12, 2012 |title=Louisiana legislature prepares to debate expansion of voucher program |work=The Pelican Post |url=http://www.thepelicanpost.org/2012/03/12/louisiana-legislature-prepares-to-debate-expansion-of-voucher-program/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014214604/http://www.thepelicanpost.org/2012/03/12/louisiana-legislature-prepares-to-debate-expansion-of-voucher-program/ |archive-date=October 14, 2013}}</ref> eligible students during the school year when the bill was passed (2012/13), only 5,000 students knew about and applied for the vouchers, and accepted them.<ref>Louisiana State Department of Education website for its Louisiana Scholarship program.[http://www.louisianabelieves.com/schools/louisiana-scholarship-program]</ref>

In 2006, the [[United States Department of Education]] released a report concluding that average test scores for reading and mathematics, when adjusted for student and school characteristics, tend to be very similar among public schools and private schools.  Private schools performed significantly better than public schools only if results were not adjusted for factors such as race, gender, and free or reduced-price lunch program eligibility.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 14, 2006 |title=Comparing Private Schools and Public Schools Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling |url=http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006461 |access-date=August 11, 2011 |publisher=Nces.ed.gov}}</ref> Other research questions assumptions that large improvements would result from a more comprehensive voucher system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 2008 |title=School Vouchers and Student Achievement: Recent Evidence, Remaining Questions |url=http://www.chicagofed.org/digital_assets/publications/working_papers/2008/wp2008_08.pdf |website=Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago}}</ref>

Given the limited budget for schools, it is claimed that a voucher system would weaken public schools while not providing enough money for people to attend [[private school]]s. 76% of the money given in Arizona's voucher program went to children already in private schools.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Palast |first=Greg |url=https://archive.org/details/armedmadhousewho00pala |title=Armed Madhouse (No Child's Behind Left) |publisher=Dutton Adult |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-525-94968-8 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Some sources claim that public schools' higher per-pupil spending is due to having a higher proportion of students with behavioral, physical, and emotional problems since in the United States, public schools must by law accept any student regardless of race, gender, religion, disability, educational aptitude, and so forth, while private schools are not so bound.  They argue that some, if not all, of the cost difference between public and private schools comes from "[[cream skimming]]", whereby the private schools select only those students who belong to a preferred group – whether economic, religious, educational aptitude level, or ethnicity – rather than from differences in administration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Would A School Voucher Buy The Real Cost Of Private Schools |url=http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-025.html |access-date=August 11, 2011 |publisher=Cato.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 28, 2007 |title=Are Private Schools More Cost Effective Than Public Ones? |url=http://economics.about.com/b/2007/10/28/are-private-schools-more-cost-effective-than-public-ones.htm |access-date=August 11, 2011 |publisher=Economics.about.com |archive-date=August 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807101339/http://economics.about.com/b/2007/10/28/are-private-schools-more-cost-effective-than-public-ones.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>  The result, it has been argued, is that a voucher system has led or would lead students who do not belong to the private schools' preferred groupings to become concentrated at public schools.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Goodkin |first1=Susan |last2=Gold |first2=David G. |date=August 27, 2007 |title=The Gifted Children Left Behind |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082600909.html |access-date=August 27, 2007}}</ref> However, of the ten state-run voucher programs in the United States at the beginning of 2011, four targeted low-income students, two targeted students in failing schools, and six targeted students with special needs. (Louisiana ran a single program targeting all three groups.)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Campanella |first=Andrew |date=2011 |title=Hope for America's Children (School Choice Yearbook 2010–11) |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/AFC/scy2011.pdf |publisher=Alliance for School Choice |access-date=May 23, 2012 |archive-date=June 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617012815/https://s3.amazonaws.com/AFC/scy2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

It is also argued that voucher programs are often implemented without the necessary safeguards that prevent institutions from discriminating against marginalized communities. In the United States, as of 2016, there are currently no state laws that require voucher programs to not discriminate against marginalized communities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Eckes |first1=Suzanne E. |last2=Mead |first2=Julie |last3=Ulm |first3=Jessica |date=29 June 2016 |title=Dollars to Discriminate: The (Un)intended Consequences of School Vouchers |journal=Peabody Journal of Education |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=537–558 |doi=10.1080/0161956X.2016.1207446 |s2cid=156577104}}</ref> Further, while some voucher programs may explicitly be aimed at marginalized communities, this is not necessarily always the case. A common argument for school vouchers is that it allows for marginalized communities of color to be uplifted from poverty. Historically, however, data suggests that voucher programs have been used to further segregate Americans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gooden |first1=Mark A. |last2=Jabbar |first2=Huriya |last3=Torres, Jr. |first3=Mario S. |date=29 June 2016 |title=Race and school vouchers: legal, historical, and political contexts |journal=Peabody Journal of Education |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=522–536 |doi=10.1080/0161956X.2016.1207445 |s2cid=147762358}}</ref> Further, some data has shown that the effects of voucher programs such as the New York City School Choice Scholarship Program, are marginal when it comes to increasing student achievement.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bitler |first1=Marianne |last2=Domina |first2=Thurston |last3=Penner |first3=Emily |last4=Hoynes |first4=Hilary |date=24 July 2014 |title=Distributional analysis in educational evaluation: a case study from the New York City Voucher Program |journal=Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=419–450 |doi=10.1080/19345747.2014.921259 |pmc=4507830 |pmid=26207158}}</ref>

Another argument against a school voucher system is its lack of accountability to taxpayers. In many states, members of a community's board of education are elected by voters. Similarly, a school budget faces a referendum. Meetings of the Board of Education must be announced in advance, and members of the public are permitted to voice their concerns directly to board members. By contrast, although vouchers may be used in private and religious schools, taxpayers cannot vote on budget issues, elect members of the board or even attend board meetings. Even voucher proponents acknowledge that decreased transparency and accountability for public funds are problematic features of the voucher system, and some have suggested a 'sliding scale' approach wherein oversight and accountability increase in proportion to the number of taxpayer dollars (in the form of vouchers) received by the private school.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Petrilli |first1=Michael J. |last2=Finn, Chester E. |last3=Hentges, Christina |last4=Northern, Amber M. |date=2009 |title=When Private Schools Take Public Dollars: What's the Place of Accountability in School Voucher Programs? |url=https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/when-private-schools-take-public-dollars-whats-place-accountability-school |publisher=Thomas B. Fordham Institute}}</ref>

[[Kevin G. Welner|Kevin Welner]] points out that vouchers funded through a convoluted tax credit system – a policy he calls "neovouchers" – present additional accountability concerns. With neovoucher systems, a taxpayer owing money to the state instead donates that money to a private, nonprofit organization. That organization then bundles donations and gives them to parents as vouchers to be used for private school tuition. The state then steps in and forgives (through a tax credit) some or all of the taxes that the donor has given to the organization. While conventional tax credit systems are structured to treat all private school participants equally, neovoucher systems effectively delegate to individual private taxpayers (those owing money to the state) the power to decide which private schools will benefit.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Welner |first=Kevin G. |title=NeoVouchers: The Emergence of Tuition Tax Credits for Private Schooling |date=2008 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0742540804}}</ref>

An example of a lack of accountability is the voucher situation in Louisiana. In 2012, Louisiana State Superintendent of Education John White selected private schools to receive vouchers, then tried to fabricate criteria (including site visits) after schools had already received approval letters. One school of note, New Living Word in Ruston, Louisiana, did not have sufficient facilities for the over 300 students White and the state board of education had approved.<ref>See Leader, Barbara (July 2, 2012). Email exchange reveals voucher scheme. [http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20120702/NEWS01/207020308/Email-exchange-reveals-voucher-scheme] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130804022132/http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20120702/NEWS01/207020308/Email-exchange-reveals-voucher-scheme|date=August 4, 2013}}</ref> Following a voucher audit in 2013, New Living Word had overcharged the state $395,000. White referred to the incident as a "lone substantive issue".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sentell |first=Will |date=June 30, 2013 |title=Ruston school banned from accepting voucher students |work=[[The Advocate (Stamford)|The Advocate]] |url=http://theadvocate.com/home/6377589-125/ruston-school-banned-from-accepting |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015044643/http://theadvocate.com/home/6377589-125/ruston-school-banned-from-accepting |archive-date=2013-10-15}}</ref> However, most voucher schools did not undergo a complete audit for not having a separate checking account for state voucher money.<ref>{{Cite web |last=White, Jr |first=Lamar |date=July 8, 2013 |title=Audit reveals systemic, widespread problems in Louisiana's school voucher program |url=https://cenlamar.com/2013/07/08/audit-reveals-systemic-widespread-problems/ |website=CenLamar}}</ref>

According to Susanne Wiborg, an expert on comparative education, Sweden's voucher system introduced in 1992 has "augmented social and ethnic segregation, particularly in relation to schools in deprived areas".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Richardson |first=Hannah |date=July 22, 2010 |title=Free schools 'could widen social divide' |work=[[BBC News Online]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10725724}}</ref>

Tax-credit scholarships which are in most part disbursed to current private school students or to families which made substantial donations to the scholarship fund, rather than to low-income students attempting to escape from failing schools, amount to nothing more than a mechanism to use public funds in the form of foregone taxes to support private, often religiously based, private schools.<ref name="NYTBD" />