Racial Equity Group Exposes Harms of School Vouchers

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."

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