The Harmful Effects of School Choice Initiatives on Public Education and the Disproportionately Harmful Effects on Students of Color

WHEREAS, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for more than 30 years has consistently opposed school choice initiatives because they negatively impact public education; and

WHEREAS, School choice initiatives disproportionately exacerbate racial and socioeconomic segregation for students of color; and

WHEREAS, School choice initiatives encompass programs that include vouchers, tax credits, scholarships, and education savings accounts that divert taxpayers' dollars away from public schools to cover the cost of attendance at private institutions and home-schooled students; and

WHEREAS, Public school funding in the United States is generally determined by student enrollment, with 31 states using the previous year's enrollment numbers to calculate current-year funding, thereby mitigating the financial impact of declining enrollment; and

WHEREAS, The remaining states do not follow this model and instead base school funding on current-year enrollment, resulting in immediate budget reductions when student attendance decreases; and

WHEREAS, Data from the U.S. Census Bureau analyzed by NBC News indicates that between 2012 and 2022, the percentage of children ages 5 to 17 enrolled in public schools declined by nearly 4 percentage points, despite overall population growth during that period. During the same timeframe, the proportion of children in the same age group attending private schools increased by approximately 2 percentage points, and enrollment in charter schools also rose significantly, as reported by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools; and

WHERAS, Educators and researchers attribute this shift in enrollment in part to the enactment of policies that have undermined public education while simultaneously promoting private and charter school alternatives; and

WHEREAS, For example, in 2023, Florida passed HB 1 to expand school voucher eligibility to all students, regardless of income, and enabled home-schooled students to apply for the same level of funding as public-school students. In the fiscal year 2023-2024, $2.1 billion was diverted from Florida's public school funding formula to the state's scholarship voucher program. In total, school choice initiatives cost Florida taxpayers approximately $3.2 billion for private and home-schooled students. Education officials in Broward, Duval, and Miami-Dade counties are considering school closures and cost-cutting measures; and

WHEREAS, These impacts will be further aggravated by the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, through which federal funds support every 1 in 5 dollars for public education, amounting to about 18% of the federal budget; and

WHEREAS, The lack of funding coupled with school choice initiatives undermines the promise of public schooling for all students. Following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, Southern states implemented school voucher programs to facilitate white students' attendance at private schools, bypassing integration mandates; and

WHEREAS, school choice initiatives lack accountability to monitor and prohibit discrimination practices against current or prospective students and staff; and

WHEREAS, Without proper regulation and oversight, private schools fail to adequately support students with disabilities, English language learners, and those from low-income backgrounds, often resulting in their exclusion from admission or meaningful participation in the classroom; and

WHEREAS, Many of these private institutions continue to operate today, while public schools serving predominantly students of color remain underfunded.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP urges our members to strongly oppose school choice initiatives urging stronger oversight of these initiatives with their legislative bodies as they result in substantial underfunding of public education and divert resources away from students of color.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NAACP reaffirms its 2003, 2010, 2014, and 2015 prior resolutions that opposed school vouchers and the privatization of public schools. The NAACP's position has been well stated.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP hereby strongly restates its opposition to school choice initiatives in light of the potential dismantling of the U. S. Department of Education.