In response to MAGA Republicans continuing to push school vouchers into their 2025 agendas, DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman released the following statement:

“Donald Trump and his MAGA minions are doubling down on their deeply unpopular school voucher agenda that threatens to derail our public education system and disproportionately hurt our rural schools. Across the country, Democrats are fighting for every student to get ahead against Republican attacks on the right of every child to a high-quality education. American families deserve leaders who will prioritize well-resourced schools for every child – not just a select few.”

Axios: School vouchers remain a GOP priority even as voters reject them

By: April Rubin 

• School voucher programs championed by President-elect Trump have faced stiff headwinds from voters but remain a priority for the incoming Republican-led Congress and the White House.

• Why it matters: Opponents of vouchers say they deepen inequality and siphon public schools’ already scant resources.

• Arizona voters in 2018 rejected school vouchers 65% to 35%, despite support from powerful Republican leaders, per ProPublica. Ultimately, the program was enacted by the legislature.

• Low-income families, families of color, and children with disabilities have fewer choices under voucher programs, per a December report from researchers at the Center on Reinventing Public Education.

• The programs were born out of opposition to school desegregation in the 20th century, per the Economic Policy Institute.

• In Kentucky, 65% of voters and all 120 counties rejected a proposal to change the state constitution to allow the legislature to provide state funding to students outside of public schools.

• In Nebraska, nearly 60% of voters repealed a voucher law. The law, put in place this year, provided taxpayer money for private school tuition, per the AP.

• In Colorado, an amendment that would have allowed for vouchers didn’t reach the 55% threshold needed to pass, receiving 49% of the vote.
  
• In North Carolina, the Republican-led legislature in November approved expanding private school grants, per the AP. The legislature overrode Gov. Roy Cooper (D)’s veto, which was fueled by concern over the impact on the public school system.