Should Hochul Opt In to School Vouchers for New York?
Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill asks states to choose: do you want public money for private school?
You wouldn’t know it by how much I write about zoning here, but my first policy love was actually education. After undergrad, I worked in an elementary school and a K-8 school before getting a Masters of Public Policy focused on education. I’ve worked at the school, district, and state level in education and education policy. That’s not my life anymore, but since it’s timely, I’m dusting off my education policy wonk hat to do a deep dive on school vouchers. Namely:
What are school vouchers and what’s the new federal policy?
What are the arguments for voucher programs? (and what does the data say?)
What are the arguments against voucher programs? (and what does the data say?)
Should Hochul opt in to school vouchers for New York?
What are school vouchers and what’s the new federal policy?
School vouchers are essentially government-funded scholarships that let parents send their children to private schools. Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill creates the first nationwide voucher program of this kind. It’s a big move for school choice - public dollars to pay for private schooling.
You might also hear vouchers referred to as tax credit scholarships. Because that’s how the new policy works: Donors can receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits of up to $1,700 for contributions to scholarship-granting nonprofits. Those nonprofits then distribute the money to families seeking help paying for private school.
While this is the first federal program, 21 states already have their own voucher programs. Each state has its own laws regarding vouchers, with many targeting certain student populations (e.g. low-income students, students with disabilities, etc.).
A couple key provisions in the federal policy:
States can opt in to the program. Or not. The law, set to apply for the 2027 tax year, allows states to decide whether to participate, setting the stage for debates over school choice.
It’s not just for low-income students, but it’s also not available to families with really high incomes. To qualify, students' families can’t earn more than three times the area median income. In NYC today, the area median income is $162,000 for a family of 4. So if you have two parents and two kids in NYC, you qualify if you make less than $486,000.
It’s unclear how much a voucher would be worth. While the bill set a $1,700 cap on how much individual donors can contribute through their taxes, it’s unclear whether it limits how much an individual student could collect in scholarships. The Treasury Department will issue regulations on the program, so this one is still TBD. With NYC private school tuition typically around $40-60K, this is a big factor.
The vouchers can be used for more than just tuition. The legislation includes private school tuition as well as other education expenses like room and board, services for students with disabilities, transportation, tutoring, and school supplies like books, computers and uniforms.
Scholarship granting orgs have to pass through 90% of the scholarship dollars. They can only use up to 10% for administrative costs.
What are the arguments against voucher programs? (and what does the data say?)
Private schools lack accountability
Unlike public schools, private schools don’t have to follow testing requirements, meet curriculum standards, or hire certified teachers. States might also choose to let homeschooling qualify for voucher dollars.
Vouchers lead to more segregation
Private schools can pick and choose who to admit. They often prefer kids who are cheaper to educate and boost their reputation, leaving public schools to serve students with disabilities, English learners, and others with greater needs.
In Chile, where vouchers boosted private school enrollment from 15% in 1981 to 42% in 2005, test scores and graduation rates didn’t improve overall. Instead, better-performing students often left public schools, increasing inequality. Most voucher users came from wealthier families- only 10% were low-income.
Vouchers are just a transfer of tax dollars to families who already enroll their kids in private school anyway
We don’t know how much a family can get from this federal voucher program. But with NYC private school tuition typically around $40-60K, a voucher would have to cover a substantial amount in order to influence a family to leave the free public school option. If a family can’t cover the gap between the tuition cost and the voucher, this policy doesn’t actually give them more choice.
Without transparency, vouchers don’t create real competition
Since private schools don’t have to administer standardized tests or make their scores public, parents won’t have perfect information to weigh their options. That makes it hard for parents to judge performance and hold schools accountable.
Vouchers have overall poor results on recipient test scores
Older studies of smaller-scale programs in places like Milwaukee showed no significant difference in test scores for voucher students versus control students. But recent studies in Indiana, Louisiana, and Ohio have found that effects for low-income voucher students were actually worse. One hypothesis is that the size of the older voucher programs mattered. They were only open to certain students (e.g. low-income students), so there wasn’t a huge increase in private school enrollment. In contrast, newer universal voucher programs are open to any student, and there may not be enough quality private schools to absorb that many new students.
Vouchers drain resources from public schools
Public schools are funded per student, so if kids leave public schools, public schools get less funding. That means fewer dollars for building maintenance, teacher salaries, etc.
Vouchers threaten the separation between church and state
Religious schools serve the vast majority of NYC private school students– mostly Jewish and Catholic schools. Paying for religious education with public tax dollars may blur the line on separation of church and state.
What are the arguments for voucher programs? (and what does the data say?)
Vouchers create more freedom to innovate
Again, private schools don’t have testing requirements, standards, or teacher certification mandates. That’s really freeing, actually. If you were to design your own ideal school for your child, it might include tests and standards eventually, but you would probably start somewhere else. For example, I went to a private Montessori school for 3rd and 4th grades. Montessori education is all about motivating and growing each unique learner. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, a teacher watches what sparks a child’s curiosity and then gives them the tools, space, and support to dive in. Kids explore and learn at their own pace, in ways that make sense for them. That really worked for me. Public Montessori schools exist, but private Montessori is much more common. Would we see more interesting and specialized school models if we started with a blank slate?
Competition pushes schools to improve
When families have more choice than just their neighborhood school, public schools have a powerful reason to get better. And there’s a large body of evidence supporting that that actually plays out. For example, research from Milwaukee found that public schools facing strong competition from private and charter schools saw student achievement rise by as much as 4.7 percentile points faster per year than similar schools without competition.
Sweden’s national voucher program saw similar results. Studies found that areas with more private schools resulted in students having higher grades, more university attendance, and more years of schooling. The improvements came largely from public schools responding to competition.
School voucher programs lead to greater parent satisfaction
Vouchers give parents more voice in choosing their child’s education. An overview study looked at parent satisfaction surveys across multiple voucher programs, and found that voucher families reported higher satisfaction.
Vouchers can lead to higher graduation rates and college attainment for low-income students
Some studies from DC and Milwaukee found higher high school graduation rates for voucher students. And in New York City, a privately funded scholarship program increased college enrollment for African American students by 24 percent (though no significant effect for Hispanic students). The share of African American students attending selective four-year colleges more than doubled.
It might seem counterintuitive that voucher students’ test scores are the same or worse, yet their graduation and college enrollment rates are higher. Possible explanations include private schools allowing students to graduate without fully mastering academic content, or the influence of a peer group where college is viewed as the expected next step.
Should Hochul opt in to school vouchers for New York?
Not if she wants to keep her job. Teachers unions are incredibly powerful in New York, and this is a blue state where education reform has lost popularity in recent years. Hochul tried to get the charter school cap raised in 2023, and failed for the same reasons. And vouchers are even more politically toxic than charter schools.
Is there any way a governor in a blue state could opt in without killing their political career?
Potentially! Because the policy allows vouchers to go to non-tuition educational supports, a Democrat governor could opt in and write the rules for their state so that the dollars can only go to certain supports. Like extra tutoring for public school students.
Most school districts, including NYC Public Schools, already partner with foundations that raise money to help students with transportation, school supplies and basic needs. They could add more public dollars to that pot without taking any budget away from public schools.
But until we get more clarity from the Treasury Department on how the policy will be implemented, we don’t know how much flexibility states will have.
My takeaway:
If I were Hochul, I’d rather keep my job than bring vouchers to New York. But that reality also has concerning implications for the Democratic Party’s future. Vouchers may not be popular with unions, but they are popular with parents– greater parent satisfaction is one of the main arguments for vouchers. In 2024, voters nationwide- and in New York- shifted away from the Democratic Party. Policies like this could keep them from returning, especially if Republicans are seen as the ones offering families a check to choose their child’s school, while Democrats are viewed as defending the status quo.
I’m interested in how the policy will shake out in the states that opt in. It’ll probably start out just being a transfer to people who were putting their kids in private school anyway. But maybe over time, more creative or interesting models could emerge. A lot depends on how the Treasury Department draws the rules, so stay tuned as more information comes out.
As you noted, $1,700 doesn’t go very far in NYC’s private schools. Unless these vouchers end up being worth $10,000+, I have a hard time imaging many parents being swayed into private schools. More “free” funds for tutoring, extracurricular, or other ancillary costs would be nice, though!
No. School vouchers and chart-schools are both horrible ideas that only serve to take much needed funds away from public schools.