I speak as someone who taught in a public high school and can unequivocally say that public education at the high school level is so cookie cutter (one size fits all), ineffective (most students get little to nothing out of their time in high school), and is too long (I mean who determined that everyone has to have four years of high school). Higher education is in woeful need of reform and vouchers would be one good approach.
Which tax dollars? Federal, I get it. Local, why not?
Why be fine with paying for a public education, but not a private one? Particularly if said funding were set up in such a way that money diverted from public to private would not exceed what the cost per pupil is?
Tax credits and vouchers become subsidies for the wealthy and don’t end up helping lower income families.
The amount of tax money back is never enough to pay a full private school tuition.
In addition to tuition, private school requires transportation, uniforms/dress codes, books etc…
Private schools are not obligated to take anyone who applies. A lot of kids in the public school systems wouldn’t be admitted to private school. They will be left behind in a system that now has less money to work with.
You end up giving a subsidy to the families that would send their kids to private school anyway, who have the stable household that results in a kid performing well enough to be admitted, and leaving behind those that don’t, while taking money out of the school tasked with educating them.
Meh. The good people of Arizona made this referendum provision a part of their law, and they are well within their rights to use it, nevermind what the internet cranks think about it.