April 11, 2025
Authors: Zoe Som, K-12 Policy and Research Intern, The Hunt Institute
Debates over school choice rage on, with legislators recently discussing the benefits and drawbacks in a Federal House hearing. School choice policies are front of mind for policymakers with arguments boiling down to a few main ideas:
More than half of states provide at least one private school choice program, with one million children participating nationally. In 2024 alone, 13 states have created or expanded school choice programs. The presidential administration has also made school choice policies a priority. This isn’t without pushback; teacher unions and some homeschooling groups are opposed to vouchers and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs).
However, school choice may not be as popular as it is portrayed in the media. School choice did not make parents and voters’ top five priorities in The Hunt Institute’s Across the Aisle Survey.
This election year, school choice referenda appeared in three states: Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska. They failed to pass in all three.
It’s been the subject of ballot measures over the last two decades and still has yet to win a majority in any statewide election.
Still, support for school choice has been expanding over time. Currently 28 states and Washington D.C. have at least one school choice program that uses public funds for parents to use on private education. Of those 28 states, 12 states have or are building toward universal school choice through vouchers, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), tax credit scholarships, and tax credits.
Further, six states, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas have drafted legislation expanding public funds for private school choice. North Dakota, for example, is advancing legislation through House Bill 1540 to support the expansion of ESAs—a strategy from the North Dakota Educational Opportunities Task Force facilitated by the Hunt Institute.
School choice proponents claim that charter schools and private schools give more freedom for parents to pick schools that best fit their child’s needs. They also assert these schools have more opportunities for innovation to develop new educational practices and create competition that improves school performance. And that choice empowers students and families and allows them to leave failing schools and schools with a perceived threat of violence.
Critics of school choice argue that vouchers and charter schools divert money from public schools, and provide little-to-no academic benefits. Many private and charter schools lack accountability compared to public schools, leading to students not receiving the education parents believe they are getting.
Students in urban districts are also more likely to have school choice options in close proximity, compared to students in rural districts. Critics also say charter schools and private schools exclude students, including LGBTQ students, students of color, and students with disabilities. Also, most private schools are religious, creating implications for the separation of church and state when using public tax dollars for vouchers.
School choice’s lackluster performance in 2024 reflects our findings from this year’s Across the Aisle Survey that school choice is not a top priority for parents and voters.
The Across the Aisle survey, created in 2020 with generous support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, dives deeper into public perceptions around key educational issues, including career readiness, school safety, extracurricular activities, and parental involvement. The survey aims to create a bipartisan understanding of parents’ and voters’ priorities in education, allowing policymakers to put priorities into policy.
Most parents believe that the availability of school choice is a problem. However, school choice fell to the bottom of voter priorities, with school safety, reading on grade level, and workforce readiness rising to the top. Fewer than one quarter of voters reported strongly opposing ESAs and school vouchers. Only one-third strongly support them. Parents of color, parents of children with an IEP, and Latines make up most of this strong support.
What did respondents care about? Parents and voters’ top issues in education include school safety, such as guns, bullying, and other physical violence, students not reading at grade level, and not teaching real-world skills for the future workforce.
This also comes as no surprise, given the rise in school shootings since 1999 and increased concerns for safety in school.
Moreover, while states are increasingly adopting high-quality literacy instruction, many students are still struggling to read because of pandemic learning loss.
Though K-12 Career and Technical Education (CTE) and workforce development have increased over the years, Americans perceive the economy as a top priority, with the difficulty of the job market and increased need to be workforce-ready.
Voter’s priorities last year were more concerned with other topics such as teaching personal skills, supporting teachers, and workforce development. These proposals match voter priorities for real-world skills and high-quality instruction.
While choice expansions may continue, policymakers should note this disconnect: Families want practical improvements, not just more options. The focus must shift to evidence-based solutions that serve all students, because the real goal isn’t choice—it’s better outcomes.
The Hunt Institute will continue to use the Across the Aisle results to facilitate important conversations about supporting teachers and students in a way that aligns with voter values.
Supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Hunt Institute’s Across the Aisle initiative connects public needs to policymakers by collecting firsthand experiences, perceptions, and priorities from the public and translating them into actionable, nonpartisan policies that will fundamentally change education for the better. As part of this work, The Hunt Institute has produced several resources and hosted convenings, including:
The 2024 Across the Aisle Survey was conducted in September 2024 and reached a total of 1,310 likely 2024 voters, which includes a base sample of 800 likely voters and oversamples of 100 African American likely voters, 100 Asian American Pacific Islander likely voters, 100 Latino/a likely voters, 100 Native American likely voters, and 110 likely voters who are parents of school-aged children.
Learn more about Across the Aisle and access the full report here.
