Dear friend,
Well-resourced neighborhood public schools create vibrant communities. But too often, lawmakers divert limited public dollars away from local public schools and into unaccountable private school voucher schemes – leading to public school closures. As a result, students experience devastating academic, attendance, behavioral, and economic consequences; families lose access to critical services; and entire neighborhoods and communities are left behind.
This is why Advancement Project and Public Funds Public Schools co-authored a new policy brief Save Neighborhood Schools – Say No to Private School Vouchers! This brief breaks down how private education vouchers contribute to the closure of neighborhood public schools.
Our case study in Florida shows how the state’s universal voucher program cost almost $4 billion in the 2024-25 school year and created budget crises that set off school closures and mass layoffs in school districts across the state. In many counties, parents used vouchers for homeschooling or private school tuition only to re-enroll their children in their now underfunded local public school mid-year. Parents have filed hundreds of complaints about the unregulated private voucher schools that have popped up to take advantage of Florida’s voucher law—scamming parents and students while wasting limited state education dollars
Neighborhood public schools are a vital community resource that welcome and serve all children- regardless of ability to pay, race, religion, immigration status, gender expression, or ability.
Save Neighborhood Schools – Say No to Private School Vouchers! can help inform policymakers about the harms of private education vouchers, the link between vouchers and school closures, and the importance of neighborhood public schools for children, families and communities.
In solidarity,
Advancement Project
