Consider This from NPR: Do Private School Voucher Programs Work?

Released on June 6, 2025

In this episode of NPR's "Consider This," host Mary Louise Kelly delves into the contentious debate surrounding private school voucher programs. These programs, which provide families with financial support to send their children to private schools, have been gaining traction, especially with recent federal backing. The episode unpacks personal stories, expert opinions, and empirical data to assess the effectiveness of such initiatives.

Personal Transformations: Michelle Salazar’s Story

The episode opens with the poignant story of Michelle Salazar from Florida, whose personal experience with a voucher program significantly improved her son's education.

• Struggles in Public School:
  [00:11] Michelle describes the challenges her son faced in a public school setting.
  “And I would sit with him for hours, hours every night after school trying to get him to do one page of homework. And it was like torture in school,” she recalls.

• Diagnosis and Solution:
  After her son was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, Salazar utilized a Florida-based voucher program that provided nearly $10,000 annually for tuition at a specialized private Christian school.
  “He loves it there and the teachers all love him. The little kiddos love him because he helps them,” Michelle shares at [00:59].

Salazar emphasizes that without the voucher, affording such specialized education would have been impossible.

Opposing Views: Curtis Finch’s Concerns

Contrasting Salazar’s positive experience, the episode presents the viewpoint of Curtis Finch, superintendent of the Deer Valley Public School District in Phoenix, Arizona, who criticizes voucher programs.

• Vouchers as a Trojan Horse:
  Finch expresses deep skepticism, stating at [01:27], “This is a Trojan horse. Looks good on the outside. And once you open your gates and let them in, the end is destruction.”

• Selective Admissions:
  He highlights that private schools often cherry-pick students, rejecting those with special needs or lower academic performance.
  “It's not school choice, it's the school's choice whether we could take your kid or not,” Finch explains at [03:38].

• Impact on Public Schools:
  Finch argues that voucher programs drain resources from public schools, forcing them to spend additional funds to reintegrate returning students.
  “I've got to use resources to go back and get them caught up. Yeah, it's a mess,” he states at [04:56].

The National Landscape: Federal Vouchers and Legislative Moves

Mary Louise Kelly outlines the broader national context, highlighting a significant Republican tax bill that proposes federal funding for voucher programs, potentially allocating around $5 billion annually.

• Eligibility and Limitations:
  Josh Cowan, an education correspondent, explains at [06:56] that vouchers would be available to families earning up to three times the area's median income. However, limitations exist, such as the necessity for private schools to accept vouchers, which is not guaranteed.

• Federal Government’s Role:
  The bill structures vouchers through charitable donations, offering substantial tax credits to donors, particularly those contributing stocks to avoid capital gains taxes.

Analyzing the Evidence: Do Vouchers Improve Education?

The heart of the episode examines empirical research on the efficacy of voucher programs, featuring insights from researchers Josh Cowan and Patrick Wolf.

• Mixed Academic Outcomes:
  Cowan notes that early, small-scale voucher programs showed marginal academic improvements. However, as programs expanded, these benefits diminished.
  “The bigger and the more recent the voucher system, the worse the results have been for kids,” he observes at [10:17].

• Declining Performance:
  Studies in states like Louisiana and Indiana indicate that students who transitioned to voucher schools often experienced academic declines comparable to those seen during disruptions like COVID-19.
  “...the learning loss, the researcher Josh Cowan says, was akin to the losses we saw from COVID and Hurricane Katrina,” Kelly reports at [11:02].

• Alternative Metrics:
  Supporters like Patrick Wolf argue that traditional test scores do not capture the full picture, suggesting that voucher students may have higher high school and college graduation rates. However, these findings primarily apply to students who remain in voucher programs, a minority of the total participants.

Policy Implications and Future Outlook

The discussion concludes by weighing the potential widespread implementation of voucher programs against the current evidence.

• Limited Impact on Public Schools:
  While some competition from vouchers might incentivize public schools to improve, the overall benefits are often outweighed by the challenges, including financial strain due to reduced student populations.

• Current Utilization Patterns:
  Data reveals that many voucher recipients were already attending private schools, indicating that the programs may not be expanding educational opportunities but rather subsidizing existing choices.

Josh Cowan summarizes the situation by emphasizing that the promise of widespread academic improvement through voucher programs is not supported by current evidence. Instead, the expansion of such programs may lead to unintended negative consequences for public education systems.

Conclusion

"Do private school voucher programs work?" remains a deeply divisive question. While individual stories like Michelle Salazar’s highlight potential benefits, broader research and expert opinions suggest that the systemic impacts may be detrimental to public education. As policymakers consider expanding voucher initiatives, the debate continues to balance personal success stories against nationwide educational outcomes.

Produced by Connor Donovan. Edited by John Ketchum. Executive Producer Sami Yenigun.