The key argument by those who support voucher programs is that they allow parents to place children in alternative schooling situations; using public schooling funds to do so. The idea is that the competition created will force public schools to improve their academic outcomes (Spector, 2017). However, prevailing research has found that this is not happening. 

Recently appointed U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos is a strong proponent for school vouchers, and has pushed for a nationwide implementation of voucher programs. This has necessitated renewed research into the overall impact of voucher programs on student learning; the results have not been promising. Research conducted by Stanford Graduate School of Education Professor Martin Carnoy found no significant increases in student performance, graduation rates, or college enrollment while at the same time highlighting significant hidden costs associated with voucher programs (Spector, 2017). 

The most pressing of these hidden costs, and the biggest impact voucher laws have on teachers and their profession, is “the impact they could have on the teaching pipeline (Spector, p. 13, 2017).” Public school teachers are protected by a system that encourages the nurturing and retention of highly trained teachers whereas private systems “would eliminate the salary and tenure benefits of the public system” only causing a larger teacher shortage (Spector, p. 14, 2017). Voucher systems thus prove to have little to no positive impact on student performance while at the same time threatening the jobs of teachers and the steady growth of fresh educators coming into the profession. As such, vouchers should be a serious concern to public school education professionals, especially teachers, who not only want to keep their jobs, but also want the best educational outcomes for their students. 

According to Bowen and Trivitt (2014), Florida's public school system offered a unique opportunity to study this notion when the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the voucher program portion of its public school accountability legislation was unconstitutional. What the researchers found was that the removal of the voucher threat had no significant impact on academic performance of schools that received failing grades under the state's accountability legislation (Bowen & Trivitt, 2014). 

While it is beyond the scope of this particular research, the impact on education professionals, specifically teachers, is not that difficult to imagine. First, understand that Florida's accountability system closely resembled, and predated, No Child Left Behind. Schools who underperformed would be given a failing grade and thus find themselves under government scrutiny. In Florida's case, before the court’s decision, schools would then face the threat of losing students and thus funding to vouchers. Like NCLB, these programs that placed accountability on standardized test scores had devastating impacts on how and what teachers teach. Emphasis on tests scores creates a dangerous classroom environment where, because of accountability, teachers are only focused on teaching students to score well on tests. 

While voucher programs alone do not create curriculum challenges where concern is only on passing tests, and not on fully educating and enriching students, the argument can be made that vouchers directly impact how teachers approach their duties. Removing funding from public schools can also increase class sizes and student-to-teacher ratios making it even harder for teachers to fully serve their students, all with little research to support the claimed benefits of vouchers. The consequences of voucher programs on classroom teachers may be well hidden under the larger debate, but there is little wonder why it’s such a contentious topic for educators. 

Classroom [Digital image]. (2016, April 29). Retrieved January 14, 2019, from https://www.stuartkellynz.com/home/why-high-school-classrooms-scare-me

Spector, C. (2017, February 28). Vouchers do not improve student achievement, Stanford research finds. Retrieved from https://news.stanford.edu/