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What’s at Risk for Students with Disabilities Under the Federal Voucher Program? 

Students with their Hands Raised

Last year, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act created the first nationwide federal private school voucher program in U.S. history. Through a tax credit mechanism that routes federal dollars to private and public-school students via scholarship granting organizations (SGO), the law will result in public funds reaching private schools that face far more limited requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) than public schools face. Oversight of the program falls not to the U.S. Department of Education but to the Treasury Department, which has no special education expertise and no institutional history of enforcing disability rights.  

This has raised concerns among special education advocates who worry that state participation in the federal voucher program will have significant educational consequences for students with disabilities. These students, if they choose to use a voucher for private education, will face a dramatically different legal and educational environment than they would in public schools.  

Education Law Center, together with partners at Research for Action and the Center for Outcomes Based Contracting, is committed to using research evidence to help advocates and policymakers understand how proposed federal policies, such as the federal voucher program, will impact students’ educational opportunities. A review  of the research evidence for students with disabilities who participate in private school voucher programs suggests reasons for caution: 

  • Research on outcomes for students with disabilities participating in state voucher programs is limited, but existing evidence does not support claims of positive academic effects.  
  • Students are less likely to be identified as having a disability in private school settings. Disability identification rates in private schools are substantially lower than in public schools, even when looking at the same students. Private schools face no legal obligation to identify students as disabled and have no financial incentive to do so. 
  • Students enrolled in private schools lose core protections under IDEA and other laws, including teacher qualification standards and discipline safeguards as well as the right to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment and dispute resolution processes. 
  • Families often do not receive complete and accurate information about the legal rights they are waiving when they enroll in a private school voucher program. Not surprisingly, access to information is tied to a family’s social network, which is in turn tied to race and class. 

“The evidence is clear,” said Danielle Farrie, ELC Research Director. “Private school vouchers present a real risk for students with disabilities. Instead of diverting resources into the unaccountable private sector, states should work to improve the funding, programs, and accountability for special education required under IDEA and other laws protecting students with disabilities.”  

View the policy brief and fact sheet generated by the voucher program rapid research review. For more information on ELC’s Research Evidence Against Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education project, visit our webpage and check back periodically for updates. This project is supported by the William T. Grant Foundation and the Spencer Foundation. 

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Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x240