Group focused on racial equity highlights harms of voucher plan
The Unity Group of Chattanooga has announced opposition to a proposed expansion of Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher plan.
In a statement provided to the media, the group highlighted a range of harms caused by the program. These include resegregation of schools and increased costs to taxpayers.
Specifically, the Unity Group notes:
- In Arizona alone, voucher spending for the current academic year is more than $300 million over initial estimates.
- In North Carolina, there were reports where some schools received more vouchers than they had students.
- There are also numerous reports that voucher recipients from states across the country have made highly questionable purchases like theme park tickets, kayaks, trampolines and yes, in one instance, a chicken coop.
The Unity Group says that based on its research of voucher programs in other states as well as preliminary data from Tennessee, vouchers are "ineffective, inefficient, and inequitable."
