Vouchers Lack Accountability 

Private school vouchers fail to provide accountability to taxpayers. Most voucher programs lack accountability measures, and many also lack proper oversight to ensure they meet even the minimal standards that do exist. 

Many voucher schools are permitted to take taxpayer money without implementing any requirements for teacher qualifications, testing, or achievement. Some states do not even require private school teachers to hold bachelor’s degrees. In addition, many states do not require accreditation for private schools, thus, taxpayer-funded vouchers are regularly used to pay for tuition at unaccredited schools.

Voucher programs also frequently fail to enforce the minimal standards required by law. For example, US Government Accountability Office reports from both 2007 and 2013 document how the Washington, DC voucher program has repeatedly failed to meet even the most basic, statutorily required accountability standards, such as maintaining certificates of occupancy and adequate financial records. In 2013, the head of the organization running the DC program even admitted that “quality oversight of the program as sort of a dead zone, a blind spot.”

There is a long list of taxpayer-funded state voucher programs where funds have been misspent. For example, in Florida, voucher schools took millions in public funds for kids not even attending those schools; in Wisconsin, the taxpayer-funded voucher program paid $139 million to schools that failed to meet the state’s requirements for operation; and in Arizona, the state’s Auditor General found that parents misused over $700,000 in ESA funds on items such as beauty supplies and sports apparel with no way for the state to recoup the money.