As the Idaho Legislature reconvenes, out-of-state interests are again pushing legislators to pass an education voucher scheme. This is the third year in a row. In the previous two years, pro-public education legislators, school board members, educators and parents fought back successfully. This year will be the biggest test yet.
Whether the program is characterized as parental choice, tax credits, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), or scholarship opportunities, they are all voucher schemes. They siphon public dollars from our already underfunded schools and funnel them into private, religious, and for-profit institutions, leaving the vast majority of Idaho’s students and communities to bear the consequences.
Voucher programs have been a disaster in other states, draining public education budgets, widening student inequities, and failing to deliver on their promises of improved education outcomes. But these schemes do deliver something.
Arizona’s voucher program has opened the door to fraud, waste, and financial mismanagement. This year, an indictment revealed that three Arizona Department of Education employees created fake students to steal $600,000 from the voucher system. These phantom enrollments weren’t caught by the state, but by a credit union that noticed suspicious withdrawals. This kind of abuse highlights the lack of oversight in Arizona’s system.
The fraud and waste don’t stop there. Arizona’s program has led to taxpayer funds being used to purchase luxury items like jetskis, kayaks, and vacations.
In states with voucher schemes, 70-80% of the recipients were already enrolled in private and religious schools before receiving public subsidies, turning the program into a handout for wealthy families. Arizona’s budget is now strained to the breaking point. A year ago, the universal voucher program of approximately $800 million contributed to a budget deficit of $1 billion.
Voucher schemes simply lack the type of accountability and oversight we expect in Idaho when spending taxpayer dollars. These programs are fiscally irresponsible.
In Indiana and other voucher states, it is the rural school districts that are impacted the most. First, they don’t have private and religious school opportunities. Second, as the state voucher budget balloons, rural school districts struggle to stay afloat.
If this happens in Idaho, rural communities would have to accept property tax increases just to provide the same level of services to students. This means local taxpayers are paying more in property tax so a wealthy family in Meridian can send their children to get a private school education. Meanwhile, in rural Idaho, teachers are stretched thinner, class sizes grow, and programs vital to student success are cut.
Finally, anybody with a marketing degree can start a voucher school. In fact, that’s exactly what has happened in places like Florida and Arizona. They refer to them as “pop-up schools” and they show up in strip malls and random homes. The system produces more schools, but not better educational outcomes.
Idaho cannot afford to follow this path. What we should do instead is collectively committed to investing in a world-class education system with generously paid teachers, school buildings equipped with the latest technology, as well as faculty and staff who are committed to producing the next generation of Idahoans with the knowledge and skills to make a successful living.
We call that a “uniform and thorough system of public free common schools.” And that’s what the Idaho Constitution calls it, too.
Idaho must learn from the mistakes of states that have gone the voucher route. By standing firm, we can ensure every Idaho child—whether in Pocatello, Boise, Salmon or Sandpoint—has access to the quality education they deserve.
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