Independent report says Indiana should end taxpayer funded school voucher program
04/16/2015

 

Today, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA) released the results of a comprehensive study on Indiana’s private school voucher program. The think tank calls for the end of the program based on its findings that the program doesn’t benefit students or taxpayers.

 

The study concludes that Indiana’s voucher program is “designed to funnel taxpayer money to private schools, with little evidence that demonstrates improved academic achievement for students who are most at risk.”

 

In a news release, CTBA stated:

 

“Indiana should invest its scarce public education dollars in schools where taxpayers can expect to receive the best educational bang for their buck – that is schools that have been proven, when compared to other types of schools, to educate the most children to the highest levels. Those schools are, unequivocally, K-12 public schools.”

 

Key findings:

• Indiana’s voucher program may actually diminish student achievement in the state over time because it diverts public taxpayer dollars away from the state’s public education systems.
• Because the Indiana Choice legislation prohibits the state from regulating curriculum content at private schools that accept vouchers, public taxpayer money is being spent on education of uncertain quality.
• Because white children as a percentage of voucher recipients in the 2014- 2015 school year exceed the next largest racial group by more than 44 percentage points, Indiana’s voucher program will likely lead to increased racial stratification within Indiana’s K-12 public schools.
• The school expenditure deduction will cause local governments across Indiana to lose up to $1.4 million annually in Local Option Income Tax revenue.

More about CTBA’s report can be found on their website.

 

ISTA has opposed Indiana’s private voucher school program from its inception. We recently reported the amount of tax dollars each local school corporation is losing to private school vouchers. Our report showed that the top 10 losing public schools lost more than $45 million to vouchers.