A Policy Review of Voucher Programs (Dis)Serving Students with Disabilities

• In Event: Students with Disabilities in School Voucher Programs

Abstract

Objectives or purposes: The purpose of this paper is to examine the policy landscape of special education related school voucher programs among U.S. states, and to synthesize school voucher research that focuses on students with disabilities. We set out to answer two research questions: (1) To what extent do existing voucher programs include policy guidance and protections for students with disabilities; and (2) to what extent does voucher research examine achievement outcomes for students with disabilities. To answer these questions, we conducted a policy scan of voucher legislation across the U.S. and a systematic review of voucher research.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework: States are obligated through federal law and their own constitutions to ensure those students receive an adequate education. While advocates highlight some theoretical benefits of market-based policy reforms, market theory also suggests that such policies may produce outcomes that disadvantage individuals who are less equipped to take place in an educational marketplace (Harris, 2024; Levin, 2001). We therefore posit that a critical role for educational research on school choice is to examine achievement outcomes for students with disabilities.

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry: To conduct the policy scan, we started with a comprehensive systematic literature review of all publicly funded, private school voucher program literature that included studies published between 1990 and 2024. We reviewed the full text of the enacted voucher policies and coded them based on four voucher types (i.e., conventional voucher (CV), tax credit (TC), tax deduction (TD), education savings account (ESA)). Voucher policies were reviewed for special education eligibility criteria including the extent to which they include elements of IDEA; specification of disability categories; voucher funds to be awarded based on the provision of services; and standards for the provision of special education services. Each policy was reviewed per category and identified as such (1) less detail; (2) some detail; (3) more detail to indicate the degree to which each category was addressed in the voucher policy.

Results: We identified three distinct waves of voucher policies that emerged in the past three decades, more than 100 years after vouchers first emerged in Vermont in 1869. Overall, policies lacked critical protections for SWD. Across 18 states, 30 voucher policies included eligibility criteria specific to special education/SWDs (11 CVs, 9 TCs, 0 TDs, and 10 ESAs). Eight statutes across 5 states were identified as having more detail across all four categories. Most policies were identified as having less detail across all categories, especially for references to IDEA (17) and specifications for fund allotments tied to special education services (22). Ten programs did not reference IDEA whatsoever.

Scholarly significance: Our findings reveal persistent disparities in how vouchers address special education and serve SWDs. Many states clearly lack adequate protections and such policies are unlikely to hold up to assumptions and logics of competitive free markers. Our work presents implications for voucher policymakers to evaluate and strengthen protections and services for SWDs.

Authors

• David E. DeMatthews, University of Texas at Austin

• Torri Danny Hart, University of Texas at Austin

• David S. Knight, University of Washington

• Daniel Geist, University of Texas at Austin