(AP) – Located in the United States in the United States presses the use of more taxpayers dollars to pay the tuition costs for private schools and home education expenses even while trying to know how to distinguish at a time of economic uncertainty.
A billion dollar voucher program annually sent by the Texas Legislative to the ruler last week, and a long motive in the Congress to expand vouchers at the national level, including the countries that rejected it, focusing attention on this issue.
In the states that already have programs to pay the costs of special education for most students, the expenses soon stumbled on their budgets with the slowdown or stop growth. Besides Texas, Tennessee adopted a program this year, and North Dakota considered a serious consideration for one before the veto last week ended his horizons this year.
Countries must produce annual spending plans that do not exceed what they bring. With federal funds that date back to the era of the epidemic, the opponents of the vouchers fear that programs will come at the expense of other priorities, including public schools.
“Even if it is funded by separate revenue sources, you may feel that school selection programs and public schools compete for the same segment of an increasingly smaller pie,” said Big Forest, who analyzes government affairs at other partisan Pew Research Center.
The costs of calculating scholarships and savings calculation increased quickly
Even five years ago, the most daring school selection programs were limited to low -income students and special needs. Recently, the scholarships and savings accounts funded by the state were open to most or all the families they were eating, especially in the states controlled by Republicans.
This approach costs much more, at least in the short term. Partially, because the studies of efforts made in several states found that most of the first students who were registering were already attending private schools, and not receiving taxpayers’ support at all before launching selection programs.
In the next academic year, the voucher programs for taxpayers in Florida are expected to cost about $ 3.9 billion, or about one dollar per $ 13 from the state’s public revenue fund. In Arizona, approximately 5 % of the public budget.
An analysis conducted by the Associated Press found that the costs in the state of Iowa, Ouhayu and Aklamaoma are more than 3 % of the state’s general spending this year, or is expected to be in the next budget year.
Spending is a smaller part of the budget in the states where scholarship programs are still heading. These include Arkansas, Indiana, North Carolina, Utah and West Virginia.
Scholarships pick up in more states
A flood of campaign funds from supporters of the vouchers was a major factor in persuading the formerly resisting Republican lawmakers to support school selection plans, especially since the defenders called for more school options that come out of the Covid.
The programs were approved last year in Alabama and Louisiana and this year in Tennessee, where Republican ruler Bill Lee said that the $ 447 million program will be available for the next academic year.
The New Hamebeshire Bill, which raises income in an existing program, has moved through the legislative body.
In Texas on Thursday, the ruling lawmakers sent a bill that allocates more than $ 10,000 annually to students in approved private schools. The cost will take place at one billion dollars in the academic year 2026-27, which is slightly more than 1 % of the annual general financing of the state. But by 2030, a legislative analysis was found, which could cost $ 4.5 billion a year. This can be partially compensated for more than $ 800 million in savings, because there will be fewer public school students to support them.
The Texas team also agreed to a batch of about $ 8 billion for the general education system, which defenders say it does not cover additional expenses due to inflation.
In Energy -based North Dakota, Republican Party Governor Kelly Armstrong met in the educational savings account program, saying that he would not expand options for all students and there are problems of implementation. He said since then that the concept is still a priority for him.
Erine Oban, organizer of North Dakootance, told public schools that the costs of the program and the unknown about the financial expectations of the state make it a bad time to start a voucher program.
“I think it will be a long -term challenge to finance something in the short term that you think may be a good idea or somehow we can tolerate now,” she said.
Republicans in Congress are looking to extend a variety of tax cuts that were approved in President Donald Trump’s first state, as well as enacting new tax cuts in additional time, advice and social security benefits. Supporters will face the selection of the school with intense competition when it comes to include this mixture.
The vouchers draw more anger when traditional financing falls backward
In Ohio, under a budget proposed by the Republic of Parliament, the vouchers will witness more financing than public schools that start in July 2026. The plan, which was issued this month, calls for a way to restore some property tax funds that have already collected educational areas.
The deputy of the Democratic State said that the bride, Rose Sweeni, is not suffering from a problem with vouchers, as long as public schools are fully funded. But she says that the budget plan is no less than that.
It will also continue to increase the amount available for scholarships for private schools, including for the first time that part of it is available to institutions that operate without any supervision of the state.
“Ninety percent of Ohio’s children are still in public schools,” Suene said. “They are still more in the vouchers while not giving public schools what they need – although this is where the largest part of the money comes.”
Rachel Brady, a four -year -old mother in Wake Forest, North Carolina, was a leader in a successful batch last year for legislators to finance the scholarships completely after one of her children and thousands of others were placed on a waiting list after the initial allocation was exhausted.
She said that legislators should search for lowering costs elsewhere if they should continue to continue programs.
North Carolina governor Josh Stein – like Katy Hobbes of Arizona, another democratic ruler – suggested the expansion of scholarships. But there is no indication that the legislative bodies controlled by the Republican Party will pump the brakes into any of the state.
The advanced budget this month by North Carolina House includes scholarship financing and a smaller increase in the proposed public school teachers.
“This is a great investment in the future of our children,” said Brady. “It gives them what they need to succeed in life. I can’t think about a better way to invest in the future of our country.”
___
The Associated Press Coleen Benkeli and Jack Dura, Kevin Frung and Nadia Lathan contributed.