WHEREAS, the first voucher program was created in 1990 and today, 12 states and Washington D.C. have voucher systems with approximately 147,000 students participating at a cost of more than $850 million; and

WHEREAS, the reform movement has made vouchers and tax subsidies a funding mechanism for school choice, a term used for a wide array of programs that offer students and their families alternatives to traditional public schools; and

WHEREAS, in recent months, we’ve heard proposals to expand voucher programs that include diverting Title 1 funds to pay for school vouchers, which would threaten a $20 billion education program for low-income schools; and

WHEREAS, school voucher programs grow to the detriment of funding public schools, which means they cannot provide all the resources and support all students need to in the classroom and beyond; and

WHEREAS, underfunded public schools are less able to attract and retain good teachers, a perpetual problem in New York City; and

WHEREAS, school voucher programs are thinly-veiled privatization schemes, funneling public into private hands and undermining the state’s solemn duty to provide a free education to all children; and

WHEREAS, while public schools have as their mission the education of all children, many voucher schools pick and choose students based on whether they behave in school and how well they’ve performed academically; and

WHEREAS, vouchers have failed to significantly affect student achievement for students who moved from public to private schools; therefore be it

RESOLVED, the UFT stands opposed to voucher programs and will align with like-minded groups to ensure public funds go to public schools.