Hundreds of New Yorkers from dozens of labor, parent, education and civil rights groups stood shoulder to shoulder in Manhattan Wednesday morning urging Gov. Hochul to reject President Trump's taxpayer-funded private school voucher program. Together the groups called on the governor to opt out of the program, which would reroute public tax dollars to private schools.
"It is a tax scheme, and it is not about investing in our students, investing in our children. The point is divestment from public schools," said L. Joy Williams, President of the NAACP New York State Conference. “We have as a state — this legislature, this governor —invested and continue to invest in public education. Continue that trend. Continue that path. Don't opt us into this destruction of our public schools.”
"Some will tell us this is about free money from the federal government," said Melinda Person, NYSUT President. “There is no such thing as free money. At a moment right now where Washington is planning cuts to Title I and IDEA — the fundamental federal programs that fund students in poverty and students with special needs — they're planning to cut those programs as this grows across the nation. We cannot let this happen.”
Because these private schools could accept public money with no public accountability, they would remain free to reject students for nearly any reason, raising real concerns about whether public dollars would be used equitably and fairly.
"Vouchers are not about school choice," said Randi Weingarten, AFT President. “Vouchers are about allowing private schools to pick and choose who they admit, leaving the most vulnerable children behind.”
Ninety percent of New York's children attend public schools, and New Yorkers agree that's where the money should stay; in recent polling more than 60 percent of voters said taxpayer dollars are better spent improving public schools, compared to just 8 percent who favor sending them to private school vouchers.
"Diverting hard-earned taxpayers’ dollars into private schools’ vouchers directly strips vital funding away from our neighborhood public schools," said Anthony Reid, President of the Metro NYC Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute. “Public funds for public schools. Period.”
Every other state that has tried voucher programs has seen devastating results, draining public school funding and showing no evidence of improved student outcomes.
"When children leave our public schools as a result of vouchers, there’s less funding available for programs and staff," said Mario Cilento, NYS AFL-CIO President. “It is as simple as that.”
"We don’t have to guess what will happen if Gov. Hochul opts into Trump’s voucher program," said Michael Mulgrew, UFT President. “The evidence is already clear in the other states that started their own voucher plans. Public schools lose funding while an ever-growing amount of taxpayer money is given to private schools that have no accountability to anyone — none.”
New York doesn't have to repeat the mistakes of other states.
"As legislators, our primary responsibility is to ensure that New York’s public schools meet the needs of every child," said Sen. Shelley Mayer, NYS Senate Education Chair. “I continue to have concerns about the impact of this proposal on New York’s public schools and public school families. We’ve worked hard to provide resources to nonpublic school students when schools can’t meet their needs or when circumstances require it. We will continue to work to ensure all students have what they need regardless of school setting. It is important that any new resources do not undermine public schools that must accept any and every child.”
"In fully funding Foundation Aid in recent years, Gov. Hochul has shown true conviction when it comes to prioritizing public education," said Sen. John Liu, NYS Senate New York City Education Chair. “It would be paradoxical to negate that progress by buying into Trump’s federal voucher scheme, which is designed to siphon money away from public schools. At a time when NYC is finally beginning to make real progress on reducing class sizes, building new schools, and hiring teachers, Governor Hochul must stay the course and reject these vouchers to protect the long-overdue and hard-fought investments in New York's public schools.”
"Extraordinary work is happening in public schools across New York every single day,” said Michael Benedetto, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee. “In the Assembly, we stand for policies that put taxpayer dollars where they belong: making our public schools the best they can be for every student who walks through their doors. Diverting that funding to unaccountable private institutions isn’t the answer; investing in the schools that serve our communities is.”