Rapidly expanding school voucher programs pinch state budgets

By Kevin Hardy Stateline org In submitting her updated budget proposal in March Arizona Gov Katie Hobbs lamented the rising costs of the state s school vouchers initiative that directs community dollars to pay private school tuition Characterizing vouchers as an entitlement venture Hobbs commented the state could spend more than billion subsidizing private mentoring in the upcoming fiscal year The Democratic governor noted those expenses could crowd out other budget priorities including disability programs and pay raises for firefighters and state troopers It s a dilemma that selected budget experts fear will become more common nationwide as the costs of school choice measures mount across the states reaching billions of dollars each year School vouchers are increasingly eating up state budgets in a way that I don t think is sustainable long term noted Whitney Tucker director of state fiscal initiative research at the Center on Budget and Framework Priorities a think tank that advocates for left-leaning tax policies Vouchers and scholarship programs which use taxpayer money to cover private school tuition are part of the wider school choice movement that also includes charter schools and other alternatives to community schools Opponents have long warned about vouchers draining materials from populace guidance as students move from populace schools to private ones But research into several programs has shown multiple voucher recipients already were enrolled in private schools That means universal vouchers could drive up costs by creating two parallel teaching systems both funded by taxpayers In Arizona state bureaucrats stated the bulk private school students receiving vouchers in the first two years of the expanded operation were not previously enrolled in population schools In fiscal year more than half the state s voucher recipients were previously enrolled in private schools or were being homeschooled Vouchers don t shift costs they add costs Joshua Cowen a professor of guidance strategy at Michigan State University who studies the issue in the last few days explained Stateline Bulk voucher recipients were already in private schools meaning states are paying for learning they previously didn t have to fund Voucher proponents though say those figures can be misleading Arizona like other states with latest expansions previously had more modest voucher programs So particular kids who were already enrolled in private schools could have already been receiving state subsidies In addition to increasing competition supporters say the programs can definitely save taxpayer dollars by delivering instruction at a lower overall cost than traditional inhabitants schools One thing is certain With a record number of students receiving subsidies to attend private schools vouchers are hurriedly creating budget concerns for particular state leaders The rising costs of school choice measures come after years of deep cuts to income taxes in plenty of states leaving them with less money to spend An end of pandemic-era aid and possible looming cuts to federal aid also have created widespread uncertainty about state budgets We re seeing a number of things that are creating a sort of perfect storm from a fiscal perspective in the states mentioned Tucker of the Center on Budget and Protocol Priorities Last year Arizona leaders waded through an estimated billion budget shortfall Budget experts disclosed the voucher undertaking was responsible for hundreds of millions of that deficit A new universal voucher undertaking in Texas is expected to cost billion over its next two-year budget cycle a figure that could balloon to nearly billion by according to a legislative fiscal note Earlier this year Wyoming Republican Gov Mark Gordon signed a bill expanding the state s voucher plan But last week he acknowledged his own substantial concerns about the state s ability to fund vouchers and its society learning obligations under the constitution I think the legislature s got a very tall task to understand how they re going to be able to fund all of these things he disclosed in an interview with WyoFile Voucher proponents who have been functioning at the state level for years are gaining new momentum with advocacy from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans In January Trump ordered federal agencies to allow states tribes and military families to access federal money for private K- instruction through tuition savings accounts voucher programs or tax credits Last week Republicans on the House Solutions and Means Committee voted in favor of making billion available over the next four years for a federal school voucher project Part of broader work on a bill to extend Trump s tax cuts the measure would need a simple majority in the House and the Senate to pass Martin Lueken the director of the Fiscal Research and Learning Center at EdChoice a nonprofit that advocates for school choice measures argues school choice measures can certainly deliver savings to taxpayers Lueken announced vouchers are not to blame for state budget woes He stated society school systems for years have increased spending faster than inflation And he noted that school choice measures make up a small share of overall state spending nationally about of total state expenditures in states with school choice he announced Masses schooling remains one of the largest line items in state budgets he commented in an interview They are still the dominant provider of K- schooling and certainly looking at the mentoring pie they still receive the lion s share It s not a choice concern I would say that it s a complication with the status quo and the populace school system he announced Related Articles Belgian princess left in doubt about her Harvard future following Trump s foreign participant ban China criticizes US ban on Harvard s international students Trump administration says Columbia violated civil rights of Jewish students Judge blocks Trump s order to dismantle the Guidance Department and fire employees Supreme Court tie vote dooms taxpayer funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma Washington D C and states offer certain school choice programs according to EdChoice That includes states with voucher programs so expansive that virtually all students can participate regardless of income But Lueken announced framing vouchers as a new entitlement project is misleading That s because all students even the wealthiest have inevitably been entitled to a community coaching whether they ve chosen to attend free residents schools or private ones that charge tuition At the end of the day the thing that matters the bulk above dollars are students and families he noted Research is clear that competition works Populace schools have responded in very positive strategies when they are faced with increased competitive pressure from choice programs Society school advocates say funding both private and population schools is untenable In Wisconsin Republican lawmakers are considering a major voucher expansion that would alter the funding structure for vouchers potentially putting more strain on the state s general fund The state spent about million on its four voucher programs during the - school year according to the Wisconsin Association of School Business Bureaucrats which represents employees in school district finance human materials and leadership The association warns proposed act could exacerbate problems with the unaffordable parallel school systems in place now by shifting more private schooling costs from parents of those students to state taxpayers at large Such expansion could create the conditions for even greater funding challenges for Wisconsin s traditional masses schools and the state budget as a whole the association s research director wrote in a paper on the issue In Arizona Hobbs originally sought to eliminate the universal voucher effort a nonstarter in the Republican-controlled legislature She has since proposed shrinking the effort by placing income limits that would disqualify the state s wealthiest families That idea also faced Republican opposition Legislators are now pushing to enshrine access to vouchers in the state constitution Marisol Garcia president of the Arizona Guidance Association the state s -member teachers union noted that vouchers and residents development funds are both sourced from the general fund So it almost right away started to impact society services she stated of the universal voucher scheme While the union says vouchers have led to cutbacks of fundamental guidance such as counselors in residents schools Garcia commented the sweeping venture also affects the state s ability to fund other services like housing transportation and wellness care Every budget cycle becomes where can we cut in order to essentially feed this out-of-control effort she stated Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy stateline org States Newsroom Visit at 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