Summary
In 2018, Arizona voters overwhelmingly rejected school vouchers. In Kentucky, a ballot initiative that would have allowed public money to go toward private schooling was defeated. In Nebraska, nearly all 93 counties voted to repeal an existing voucher program.
Nearly a dozen states have enacted or expanded major voucher or “education savings account” programs. Yet voucher efforts have been more successful when they aren’t put to a public vote.
In Texas, pro-voucher candidates for the state Legislature won enough seats this Tuesday to pass a voucher program. Gov. Kim Reynolds helped push them out of office despite being incumbents in her own party. A similar dynamic has developed in Tennessee and in a dramatic way in Texas.
In Texas, vouchers were used to attack a candidate for the state Senate. The ads were paid for by the American Federation for Children's affiliated PAC.
The Supreme Court could also aid the voucher movement in coming years. “They’re not going to stop,” Cowen said.
