States around the country are aiming to make school vouchers available to more parents to pay for schools and related expenses.
Whereas such vouchers, for more than 30 years, have used public funds to send some students to private schools, universal school vouchers (aka education savings accounts) would grant money to each public school student under age 18 and give it outright to parents to spend as they see fit, FiveThirtyEight reported.
That means the money could be used to pay for private schools, religious schools, online schools and approved costs for homeschooled children.
New bills in various state legislatures would make education savings accounts open to everyone, regardless of a family's ability to pay. Such accounts previously were available to limited populations, such as special needs K-12 students.
Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia all have existing legislation regarding universal school vouchers. Nine other states have introduced related bills, FiveThirtyEight reported.
The increased push for education savings accounts follows last summer's Supreme Court decision allowing people to use taxpayer-funded tuition assistance for religious schools.
Although efforts to expand school vouchers and education savings account programs have been blocked by state courts in the past, the high court's ruling has empowered some states to revisit those plans.
Republicans' interest in universal school vouchers also is due, in part, to the prevalence of critical race theory and gender identity policies in public schools.
"The 'Washington knows best' crowd really loses their minds over that," former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said in 2020.
"They seem to think that the people's money doesn’t belong to the people. That it instead belongs to 'the public,' or rather, what they really mean — government."
Renewed and increased interest in education savings accounts also come as Republicans try to give parents a greater voice in their children's education.
"The public schools are waging war against American children and American families," Christopher Rufo, the documentary filmmaker, told The New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg in November 2021.
Public school advocates are concerned about the effects of universal school vouchers on their institutions.
"If more states establish these education savings accounts, it could radically change public education, and how American families experience schools could vary a great deal based on where they live and who governs," FiveThirtyEight said.
Democrats, long opposed to school vouchers, also oppose educational savings accounts. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Democrat governors instead have advocated for increased school funding and expanded public schools.
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