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Consider This from NPR

Do private school voucher programs work?

Consider This from NPR

NPR

Society & Culture, News, Daily News, News Commentary

4.15.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

House Republicans' reconciliation bill, which includes a first-of-its-kind national private school voucher program, is now in the hands of the Senate.

The proposal would use the federal tax code to offer vouchers that students could use to attend private secular or religious schools, even in states where voters have opposed such efforts.

Debates about voucher programs have raged on throughout the years. But what does the research say? NPR education correspondent Cory Turner unpacks it.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

For Michelle Salazar, a school voucher was a life changer.

0:05.1

The mother of two lives in Florida.

0:07.1

And she says when her son was in first grade, in public school, he struggled.

0:11.3

And I would sit with him for hours, hours every night after school, trying to get him to do one page of homework.

0:18.5

And it was like torture.

0:20.7

In school, she says, he could be fidgety and distracted.

0:24.2

All the kids would sit at tables, they would put him in a desk.

0:27.4

And the desk was black in the corner.

0:30.6

Like, it was crazy.

0:32.4

They just didn't really know how to deal with him.

0:34.9

He struggled.

0:35.9

He fell behind in reading.

0:37.4

Eventually, her son was

0:38.8

diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. And Salazar tapped into a Florida-based voucher program

0:45.4

that gave her nearly $10,000 a year to help cover tuition at a small, private Christian school

0:52.3

that focuses on students with disabilities. Her son is now 12,

0:56.9

and she says it has been a perfect fit. He loves it there, and the teachers all love him.

1:01.9

The little kiddos love him because he helps them. He'll help the teacher sometimes when the

1:05.7

kids can't calm down. What's more, Salazar says she never could have afforded the school without the voucher.

1:13.4

Soon, families across the country, even in states that have opposed vouchers, could get help from the federal government to pay for private school.

1:22.5

It's part of the huge Republican tax bill. Not everyone is happy about it.

1:27.1

This is a Trojan horse. Looks good on the outside. And once you open your gates and let them in,

...

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