Vouchers Aren’t Free: Who’s Footing the Bill?
Voucher pushers like to say the money “follows the child” and argue that vouchers “save taxpayers money,” but after three years of universal vouchers in Arizona we know that vouchers aren’t free — and the impacts are costing kids and families, as universal ESA vouchers have destabilized Arizona’s school funding system, forcing school closures, teacher layoffs, and more.
The special interests pushing vouchers love to make it seem as though school dollars simply “follow the child” from public schools to private or homeschooling, but vouchers do have a very real cost impact on public schools. Vouchers overwhelmingly go to wealthier families already choosing private schools — at the same time, vouchers strip public schools of critical funding, leaving fewer resources for the kids in our communities who rely on them. In the end, the public pays more, but our communities get less.
Statements like “the money follows the child” or “vouchers save taxpayer dollars” completely overlook the complex and communal ways public education is funded, leading to the question: “Who is actually footing the bill for vouchers — and what is the true cost for Arizona students?”
Q: Who Really Pays for Vouchers?
A: The answer is surprisingly straightforward — everyone in Arizona who’s not using a voucher pays for the voucher system, including students who stay in public school (especially rural and low-income students), taxpayers with kids in school, and taxpayers who don’t have children in school. The sad truth is that when ESA vouchers strip funds away from public schools, every public school student in the state misses out on critically needed funding.
The foundation of public education is that taxpayers contribute a small portion of their income to support a public education system for all, which is accountable for how that money is spent. Taxpayers help support strong public schools, and in return, they benefit from safer communities, an educated populace, and a stronger local economy. Funneling vast sums to vouchers is inefficient and expensive, creating two separate systems and robbing community public schools of the resources they desperately need.
Q: Does the Money Follow the Child?
A: Universal ESA voucher advocates assert that parents are “reclaiming their tax dollars from the government,” but here’s what the voucher pushers don’t want you to know: The average Arizona taxpayer does not pay anywhere near $10,000 per kid (the cost of an average universal voucher) into the K-12 education system each year — in fact, the average household pays a total of about $3,300* in sales tax and income tax per year, and only half of that goes to public schools. Put simply – a family of five might receive $50,000 in universal voucher funding each year while only contributing a little over $1,500.
According to the US Census Bureau, the median household income in Arizona is just over $81,000 a year. Using an income tax calculator, we can determine how much the median household pays in state taxes each year: roughly $2,000 in state sales tax and $1,300 in state income tax, totalling approximately $3,300. Now, consider that K-12 education makes up only 47% of Arizona’s general fund. That means the average Arizona household contributes roughly $1600 to K-12 education each year — a far cry from the average ESA voucher value of $10,000.
So where does the rest of the funding come from? All of the other taxpayers who may not have kids in school but depend on a strong public education system just the same. Much like roads, police, firefighters, and public libraries, taxpayers contribute to a public system regardless of whether they use the services — because it’s good for the public. If a family doesn’t need to call the fire department for ten years, they don’t demand a rebate because they understand their tax dollars went into fighting fires for other people, benefiting the whole community (and the fire department remains in case they need protection). If a mom doesn’t use the public library for a year, she doesn’t demand her taxpayer dollars back to buy her children’s books on Amazon.
And here’s the kicker — even if families were paying $10,000 into K-12 per kid (and they’d have to make around $500,000 a year per child for that to be true), only a small fraction of a person’s tax dollars go to their own child’s education. The rest is used for shared expenses that all students need, like teachers, classroom aides, principals, equipment, technology, resources, air conditioning, buses, and school facilities. If a family doesn’t use the bus for a year, they don’t ask for a refund. It’s called public education because it’s for the public good (whether or not you personally use it).
That’s the essence of public education: it’s designed for the public good, pooling resources so that every child in every community has access to schooling. Unlike private schools that can pick and choose, public schools accept and serve all students regardless of income, ability, language, or background, as that is their mission and promise.
Q: Do Vouchers Save Arizona Money?
A: Contrary to the talking points of privatization lobbyists, vouchers actually cost more than the funding public district schools receive. The minimum universal ESA voucher is $424 more than what district public schools receive for each elementary and middle school student, and $540 more for each high school student. This additional cost is siphoned from the state’s general fund, further reducing the funds allocated for Arizona’s basic public services. But it gets worse: Data shows that approximately 70% universal ESA voucher recipients were already in private school or homeschooled to begin with (and therefore were not receiving any state funding). Each of these students represents an entirely new cost to taxpayers, and each ESA voucher represents a 100% subtraction from the state budget used to fund public schools — with no identified revenue source for the state to cover those costs.
The voucher program is expected to reach an enrollment of 100,000 students and surpass the $1 billion mark by the end of 2025, meaning each and every Arizona public school (district and charter) will lose over $420,000 in desperately needed dollars this school year. As a result, the 1.1 million students in public schools will continue to go without the resources they need, and Arizona teachers and staff won’t get the pay raises they deserve. Slashed district budgets have already forced schools to lay off teachers, eliminate programs, and even close schools.
Q: Are Vouchers Responsible for Public School Closures?
A: Arizona is facing an unprecedented school closure crisis. Last school year, 20 public schools were forced to shutter their doors, causing difficulty, uncertainty, and heartache for many Arizona families who rely on and choose their local neighborhood schools. Now, more districts are being forced to make agonizing decisions about school closures this year. Arizonans deserve the truth: It’s the vouchers.
Vouchers are draining desperately needed funds from low-income schools and forcing school closures, while lining the pockets of the rich. While voucher funding siphons our tax dollars to the richest zip codes in the state, the vast majority (70%) of the schools that have shut down over the past year are Title I, which means they serve students in low-income areas.
- Kyrene Elementary School District is considering shutting down 9 of its 25 schools this school year. The district has stated it’s aiming to save $7-12 million due to budget constraints — meanwhile, voucher funding is draining $12.1 million a year in Kyrene.
- Paradise Valley Unified School District shut down three schools to save $2.4 million a year, while vouchers drain $30 million a year in Paradise Valley.
- Roosevelt School District shut down five schools to save a stated $8 million a year, while vouchers drain $8 million a year in Roosevelt.
The math is simple: Arizona doesn’t provide enough funding to adequately fund one school system, much less two — a public system open to all and a selective private voucher system.
Public Education Isn’t a Piggybank
While the myth of “funding students, not systems” has been used to sell vouchers, the harsh reality is that our public education system serves 92% of Arizona’s students, and defunding it hurts all 1.1 million of them. Funding individual students with unaccountable vouchers is a fast path to eliminating oversight and bankrupting our schools (and the state).
Our elected leaders must protect our students and our state by rolling back universal ESA vouchers and investing in our neighborhood public schools.