“Studies indicate that after traditional voucher expansions, the private school market floods with new pop-up providers. That’s exactly what is happening with the ESA-style expansions in Arizona now. Many new schools are nearly or entirely funded by the ESA payments—just as the average private school in older voucher programs was. Many of these schools will quickly close. There’s also existing academic evidence predicting that traditional voucher programs incentivize existing private schools to raise tuition, using the new dollars as something of a public subsidy. And that is exactly what recent reports are showing with ESA passage, with existing private schools raising their tuition.”

Read the article from the Brookings Institute on research around ESAs and vouchers at https://www.brookings.edu/articles/research-on-school-vouchers-suggests-concerns-ahead-for-education-savings-accounts/?fbclid=IwAR1-9eUmtLrf-5Ig-u4K8-9qxhcYBAQJdeA4g5sKR4O8L7OdJdjcd_hq6Bc

Originally posted on Facebook on Sept. 5th, 2023.