12: School Vouchers Are a Disaster

Ever heard the name Howard Rich? How about Jeff Yass? You didn’t vote for them, but they and a handful of other out-of-state billionaires have been leading the push to fund private religious schools with public money in South Carolina. 

On this episode we are joined by Professor Josh Cowen, author of the 2024 book The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers. As someone who has investigated the outcomes of private school vouchers in other states, he speaks out on these programs’ terrible academic track record, the pitfalls of voucher schools for students with learning disabilities, the havoc they wreak on rural schools’ education funding, and the ugly segregationist history of voucher campaigns from Brown v. Board to the present day. 

For more information and links to studies and news coverage, see our recent blog post, "The ugly truth about school vouchers."

Now is a good time for lawmakers to hear from their constituents who oppose school vouchers. Our friends at the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center have set up a page to help you contact your state senator, including some suggested language for an email: https://www.votervoice.net/SCJustice/Campaigns/120058/Respond 

Music featured on this episode is by Daft Hartley. The audio clips at the start and end of the episode are of South Carolina Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver, speaking at an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation on June 6, 2024. You can hear her further comments about “an overtly faith-based education” on our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aclusc/reel/C8mVOLwBd3e/