Texas Vouchers: The Real Cost

The challenges facing Texas’s education system — from underfunded classrooms to widening inequalities — are acute and persistent, but some policymakers insist that voucher programs are the silver bullet. Supporters argue that vouchers will improve academics and relieve budget strain by increasing parental choice. But others say that what these proposals really do is drain the scarce resources from already struggling public schools, deepen fiscal deficits and not effectively address the root inequities in education.

Voucher programs starve public institutions of funds and promise families a choice. But evidence from states like Arizona suggests that such initiatives can impose unintended fiscal burdens. Voucher supporters, for example, project modest costs, but Arizona’s experience has been runaway costs and a major budget gap this year, prompting lawmakers to cut funding for critical infrastructure projects elsewhere. A similar approach in Texas threatens to further depress the per-pupil investment in public schools increasingly challenged by limited budgets and growing enrollment.

The fundamental case for vouchers is that competition will drive up student performance. Yet research repeatedly shows that voucher programs do not produce significant gains in academic achievement. Many of those receiving vouchers are already attending private schools, critics add, leaving most students in poorly resourced public institutions. In addition, many private schools receiving vouchers do not undergo the same level of accountability, which can deepen educational inequities.

One critic pointed out the danger of more segregation and inequality by saying, “It’s not about giving parents choice; it’s about taking money away from our public schools, which serve the vast majority of our children,” as first reported by Dallas News.

Offering vouchers in Texas is as much a political move as an educational policy system. Influential backers contend that vouchers make “parents’ rights” real, and expand school choice. But this rhetoric can cover over deep financial and social costs. But in reality, voucher programs are contributing to an overall reduction in education funding, jeopardizing the public schools that educate nearly 90 percent of students. Additionally, critics warn that these policies may disproportionately benefit affluent families, while undermining the educational opportunities for low-income and minority students.