GiaQuinta statement on 23-24 private school voucher enrollment expansion

House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne) issued the following statement reacting to Indiana's new private school voucher report for the 2023-2024 school year:

“One year after Indiana's Republican supermajority expanded private school vouchers to families making up to $220,000, a new report has made it clear that this expansion is benefiting wealthy families whose kids are already enrolled in private school, just as House Democrats predicted. Proponents of vouchers initially argued that their purpose was to 'save' kids from so-called failing public schools, but with this new growth, it's clear that uplifting underserved children was never the end goal of this program. In fact, the number of families who make over $200,000 and receive vouchers has increased 10 times this school year. For context, the median Indiana household makes $67,173 annually.

“Only 6% of school-age children received a voucher this school year. This $439 million in spending has come at the expense of the rural, suburban and urban public schools that educate most Hoosier kids. Let us not lose sight of the fact that our public schools have a constitutional duty to educate every child, whereas private schools can deny admission to children on any basis of their choosing. Spending more money on the voucher program means that our public schools receive less funding. We have a chance to reprioritize our traditional public schools in the 2025 budget negotiations and ensure that state policy is primarily focused on ensuring that public school students receive the excellent education they deserve.”