Demand for Private School Vouchers Exceeds Budgets in Several States

Four American states, including Arizona and Iowa, grapple with greater-than-expected participation in voucher programs while critics raise concerns over potential budget cuts to public schools.

Voucher programs, offering public money for private school tuition, are seeing higher than expected demand in several states, including Arizona and Iowa, and higher-income families are increasingly able to take advantage of these programs.
While private school vouchers were initially designed for lower-income students, four states - Arizona, Florida, Iowa, and Ohio - have reported more applications than expected and must potentially allocate more funding, while nine states total have raised or phased out income limits entirely.
Critics, such as Michigan State University education policy professor Josh Cowen, worry that the shift of private expenses to public costs through such voucher programs could strain state budgets.
Opponents of the voucher programs, like executive director of Save Our Schools Arizona, Beth Lewis, expect possible budget cuts to public school funding as lawmakers attempt to cover the inflated costs of these programs, though no such cuts have been publicly discussed.
Parents often see the programs favorably, citing reasons such as increased control over their children's education, academic rigor, and safety; for some, vouchers provide access to private schools they may not otherwise be able to afford.