The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Carson v. Makin ruled that the state of Maine cannot exclude religious schools from their tuition assistance program that allows parents to use vouchers to send their children to private schools.

The ruling furthers the constitutional criticism of tuition vouchers. It breaches the separation between church and state by requiring states to fund private religious schools if they fund any other private schools, even using the funds for religious instruction or worship. 

Dissenting Opinion

In Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent, she accuses the court of dismantling “the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build.” She adds, “the Court has upended constitutional doctrine, shifting from a rule that permits States to decline to fund religious organizations to one that requires States in many circumstances to subsidize religious indoctrination with taxpayer dollars.” (Supreme Court- Carson v. Makin)

Reactions to the Decision

National Education Association President Becky Pringle commented on the ruling, “Forcing American taxpayers to fund private religious education—even when those private schools fail to meet education standards, intentionally discriminate against students, or use public funds to promote religious training, worship, and instruction—erodes the foundation of our democracy and harms students.”

University of Texas School of Law professor and CNN Supreme Court analyst, Steve Vladeck, said the ruling puts states in a difficult position if they choose to offer tuition assistance programs. “Although framed as a school-choice ruling, it’s hard to see how this won’t have implications for a far wider range of state benefit programs – putting government in the awkward position of having to choose between directly funding religious activity or not providing funding at all,” Vladeck said. (CNN Politics)

In October 2022, Texas Monthly released a compelling article on a Texas voucher scheme by political operatives and leadership of ResponsiveEd, one of the largest charter operators in the state.  

In this riveting article by Forrest Wilder, Responsive Education Solutions is named a key organizer of the voucher scheme in Wimberley, Texas to siphon public funds to private schools. “Their confidential proposal went like this: Wimberley would partner with Texans for Education Rights Institute to create a charter school tentatively dubbed the Texas Achievement Campus. But ‘campus’ was a misnomer because there would be none. The school would exist only on paper. Texans for Education Rights would then work with ResponsiveEd to place K–12 students from around the state into private schools of their choice at ‘no cost to their families.’ ”

While the Texas Public Charter School Association claims it “had no knowledge of [the] plan”, the Chair of the Texas Public Charter School Board of Directors is also CEO of Responsive Ed. (Texas Monthly- Inside the Secret Plan to Bring Vouchers to Texas)

The Texas American Federation of Teachers reacted to the Texas Monthly article, “Now, the worst-kept secret in Texas is out: As public education advocates have long noted, the rapid expansion of privately run charter schools in Texas is…a potential backdoor for school vouchers that would send public dollars to private and religious schools.”  

Read Inside the Secret Plan to Bring Vouchers to Texas in its entirety here.

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and the GOP in Texas have made school choice, i.e. voucher programs, a priority for the upcoming legislative session. (Texas Tribune)

Voucher supporters hope to find backing from conservatives displeased with public schools’ teachings of history and race. Conservatives have criticized school library books that reference gender fluidity and have deemed them “pornography.” Some conservatives also believe that public schools’ teachings on race have a liberal bias. They mislabel the teachings as “critical race theory,” which is not currently taught in Texas public schools. (Texas Tribune- Critical Race Theory Explained)

Rural Republicans have long opposed school choice, as Texas has the most rural students in the nation and little access to private schools. Often, rural Texas public schools serve as a hub for employment and community pride.

State Rep. Ken King, a Republican representing parts of the Texas Panhandle, said he would reject any school voucher bills. “If I have anything to say about it, it’s dead on arrival,” he said. “It’s horrible for rural Texas. It’s horrible for all of Texas.”

Voucher supporters also face opposition from the State Board of Education, the 15-member Republican-controlled board that dictates what Texas’ public schools teach. (Texas Tribune- The Future of Rural Texas)

An op-ed in the Austin American Statesman, School Voucher Program is Not Right for Texas Education written by David DeMatthews, associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin, and David S. Knight, assistant professor of education finance and policy at the University of Washington, explains some problems with school vouchers.  “School vouchers…are taxpayer-funded government subsidies that parents use to pay private school tuition although tuition and transportation at many private schools exceed the voucher. Families must pay the difference.”