By Kendall Deas, University of South Carolina
The Context:
Florida has long been at the forefront of school choice in the United States, and recent legislative expansions have accelerated its impact on public education systems across the state, including right here in Apopka.
The Local Impact in Orange County and Apopka
Orange County Public Schools, the eighth-largest district in the nation, has felt the ripple effects of expanded school choice programs. In neighborhoods like those in Apopka, traditional public schools have experienced enrollment declines as families opt for charter schools, magnet programs, or private schools that receive state assistance.
In theory, more options give families the ability to find the best fit for their child’s education. But critics, including many education policy experts, warn that the broad expansion of school vouchers is draining resources from public schools, especially in lower-income, predominantly Black and Hispanic communities.
“As more students leave public schools, the funding goes with them,” said Norin Dollard of the Florida Policy Institute. “That means fewer resources for those who remain—often the students who need the most support.”
In Orange County, where income and racial disparities already impact school performance and access, public schools in less affluent areas, such as South Apopka, may face additional challenges as school choice becomes more widely adopted.
Parents Face Hidden Costs
While vouchers offer public dollars toward private tuition, they rarely cover the full cost of enrollment. That can leave low- and middle-income families unable to afford private schools, even with state aid. Transportation is also not guaranteed, creating additional barriers for many working-class families in Apopka.
In contrast, affluent families are more likely to supplement voucher funds with personal resources, creating a tiered system where school choice exists, but real access depends on income.
Supporters of school choice argue that competition encourages all schools to improve. But as Florida continues to expand its voucher programs, public education advocates are calling for reforms to ensure equity and accountability.
That includes requiring private schools that accept public funds to follow the same civil rights and academic standards as public schools, and limiting vouchers to students from low-income backgrounds—the original intent of the policy.
In Apopka and across Orange County, the future of public education may hinge on whether these reforms are adopted and whether state lawmakers invest in strengthening, rather than fragmenting, the public school system.
Kendall Deas of the University of South Carolina writes (below) about the effect that voucher programs are having on the public school system.
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School voucher programs, which allow families to use public funds to pay tuition for private school attendance, have become increasingly popular.
Thirteen states and the District of Columbia currently operate voucher programs.
In addition, 15 states have universal private school choice programs that offer vouchers, education savings accounts, and tax credit scholarships.
More states are considering school choice and voucher programs as the Trump administration advocates for widespread adoption.
School vouchers have a long history in the U.S.
The first vouchers were offered in the 1800s to help children in sparsely populated towns in rural Vermont and Maine attend classes in public and private schools in nearby districts.
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which justices ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional, segregationists used vouchers to avoid school integration.
More recently, school voucher programs have been pitched as a tool to provide children from low-income families with quality education options.
As a scholar who specializes in education policy, law and politics, I can share how current policies have strayed from efforts to support low-income Black children.
History of school voucher programs
Over time, as school voucher policies grew in popularity, they evolved into education subsidies for middle-class families. Peter Dazeley/Getty Images
Research from education history scholars shows that more recent support for school choice was not anchored in an agenda to privatize public schools but rooted in a mission to support Black students.
Over time, as school voucher policies grew in popularity, they evolved into subsidies for middle-class families to send their children to private and parochial schools.
School choice policies have also expanded to include education savings account programs and vouchers funded by tax credit donations.
Vouchers can redirect money from public schools, many of which are serving Black students.
Impact on public schools
School voucher programs can negatively impact the quality of public schools serving Black students. Connect Images via Getty Images
States looking to add or expand school choice and voucher programs have adopted language from civil rights activists pushing for equal access to quality education for all children. For example, they contend that school choice is a civil right all families and students should have as U.S. citizens. But school voucher programs can exclude Black students and harm public schools serving Black students in a host of ways, research shows.
The impact of voucher programs disproportionately affects schools in predominantly Black communities with lower tax bases to fund public schools.
Since the Brown v. Board ruling, school voucher programs have been linked to racial segregation. These programs were at times used to circumvent integration efforts: They allowed white families to transfer their children out of diverse public schools into private schools.
In fact, school voucher programs tend to exacerbate both racial and economic segregation, a trend that continues today.
For example, private schools that receive voucher funding are not always required to adopt the same antidiscrimination policies as public schools.
School voucher programs can also negatively impact the quality of public schools serving Black students.
As some of the best and brightest students leave to attend private or parochial ones, public schools in communities serving Black students often face declining enrollments and reduced resources.
In cities such as Macon, Georgia, families say that majority Black schools lack resources because so many families use the state’s voucher-style program to attend mostly white private schools.
Moreover, the cost of attending a private or parochial school can be so expensive that even with a school voucher, Black families still struggle to afford the cost of sending children to these schools.
Vouchers can siphon school funding
Voucher programs can disproportionately affect funding in majority Black school districts. kali9/Getty Images
Research from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., shows that voucher programs in Ohio result in majority Black school systems such as the Cleveland Metropolitan School District losing millions in education funding.
This impact of voucher programs disproportionately affects schools in predominantly Black communities across the U.S. with lower tax bases to fund public schools.
Another example is the Marion County School District, a South Carolina system where about 77% of students are Black.
Marion County is located in the heart of the state's “Corridor of Shame,” a region known for its inadequate funding and low levels of student achievement. The 17 counties along the corridor are predominantly minority communities, with high poverty rates and poor public school funding because of the area’s low tax base due to a lack of industry.
On average, South Carolina school districts spent an estimated US$18,842 per student during the 2024-25 school year.
In Marion County, per-student funding was $16,463 during the 2024-2025 school year.
By comparison, in Charleston County, the most affluent in the state, per-student funding was more than $26,000.
Returning voucher policy to its roots
Rather than focus on school choice and voucher programs that take money away from public schools serving Black students, I argue that policymakers should address systemic inequities in education to ensure that all students have access to a quality education.
Establishing restrictions on the use of funds and requiring preferences for low-income Black students could help redirect school voucher policies back toward their intended purpose.
It would also be beneficial to expand and enforce civil rights laws to prevent discrimination against Black students.
These measures would help ensure that all students, regardless of their background, have access to a quality education.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
Editor's Note: The “In Context” part of this article was produced with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model, to help with content, research, drafting, and editing. All content has been reviewed and verified for accuracy by The Apopka Voice editorial team.
