Voucher Plans

Martha McCarthy

Under a basic voucher proposal, as proposed by Milton Friedman in the mid-twentieth century, the per-pupil amount of state aid for public school students would be made available for parents to use to send their child to a private or public school of their choice. Families could supplement the voucher for their children to attend a private school that charges more for tuition than the voucher amount. A number of variations on the basic plan are possible, such as restricting participation in the voucher program to those private schools that agree to limit the copay amount charged to parents. Also, the vouchers can be made available only to specific student populations, such as children with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, or those attending public schools rated as deficient on various criteria. Voucher systems have been discussed in the educational literature for several decades, and there was a brief, federally supported voucher ...

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