Private Schools do the Choosing?

The truth behind vouchers:

Voucher supporters like to use the word "choice" instead of  "vouchers," because they know "choice" has a certain appeal.

But the fact is when it comes to vouchers, it is the private and religious schools - not the parents - which do the choosing.

Discrimination: Private and religious schools routinely discriminate in their admissions on the basis of race, gender, religion, academic ability, special needs, family background, and disciplinary history.

According to the U.S. Department of Education*:

  • No open admissions: Only one-third of private schools would accept vouchers if they had to randomly accept students.

  • No accountability: Between one-third and one-half of private schools would accept voucher students if they had to administer the same tests that public school students are required to take.

  • No special needs children: Only about one in four private schools would accept students with special needs such as learning disabilities, limited English proficiency, or low achievement.

  • No religious exemptions: Only 14 percent of religious schools would accept students if they had to exempt them from religious instruction.

  • No room: Private schools can only accommodate 150,000 more students nationwide. Only 38 percent of those spaces are in schools with tuitions of $2,000 or less.

The real Milwaukee story:

The Milwaukee voucher program - used as a "success story" to enlist parental support for vouchers in New Jersey - has an annual attrition rate of between 23 and 44 percent. ** The students who leave - primarily low achievers and other "difficult to educate" children - are sent back to the public schools, while their voucher money stays with the private school for the remainder of the semester.

NJEA Voucher Task Force, August 2003

**Barriers, Benefits, and Costs of Using Private Schools to Alleviate Overcrowding in Public Schools,* U.S. Department of Education, November 1998.
**Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Fifth Year Report, John Witte, December 1995, p.9.