Did you know?: Most School Voucher Money Ends up Going to Religious Schools

By Ashley Bean Thornton

School Vouchers (aka Education Savings Plans, “School Choice,” “Parent Choice,” etc.) are programs that allow parents to receive money from the state to use toward paying for private schools.  In the last legislative session, the Texas Senate passed a bill that would have allowed parents to receive up to $8,000 per student per year.  This bill did not pass the Texas House and so it did not become law.  Governor Abbott has promised to bring it up again in this next session.

At Vote for ALL Kids we oppose school vouchers because we do not believe they make public schools, which serve all kids, better or stronger.

One reason some people oppose school vouchers is because vouchers are seen as a way to funnel state money to religious schools. The Texas Constitution ( Article 7, Sec 5 .2.C) states, “…The permanent school fund and the available school fund may not be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school.”

What we have learned from voucher programs already operating in other states is that most voucher money ends up going to religious schools.  For example, according to a recent article in the Washington Post, “In Ohio, the GOP legislature last year significantly expanded its voucher program to make almost every student eligible for thousands of dollars to attend private school. As a result, more than 150,000 students are paying tuition with vouchers this year — up from about 61,000 in 2020. About 91 percent of this year’s voucher recipients attend religious schools, the Post analysis found.”

 If you look around McLennan County, you can see why this is probably true.  Most of the private schools in Waco, for example, are religious schools.  I can only think of two – Waco Montessori, and Van Guard Preparatory Academy – that are not religiously oriented.  If a child is going to private school in Waco, he/she is probably going to a religious school because that is most of what is available.

Speaking just for myself, I certainly do not have any problem with parents sending their children to religious schools.  At the same time, I do not necessarily want my tax money to be paying for tuition at a religious school where students may be learning beliefs very different from my own.  If having public money pay for religious schools rubs you the wrong way, then you should vote against candidates who will vote for school vouchers.