Taxpayer-Funded Private School Vouchers and Market Failure - A Policy Scan and Review from 1869 to 2024

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dawugda

More than 70 years ago, Milton Friedman argued in favor of vouchers as a policy tool to increase the quality of the nation’s education system. This article reviews state-legislated, taxpayer-funded private school voucher policies in the United States from 1869 to 2024, including a scan of historical and contemporary legislation. Findings indicate little evidence that vouchers created education marketplaces producing valued educational outcomes. Results also suggest vouchers were used to maintain racial segregation or failed to improve achievement, highlighting that education markets do not meet competitive-market assumptions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

Policy scan and review (1869 to 2024)

Marketplace outcomes and market failure

Segregation and student achievement

| education policy analysis archives
A peer-reviewed, independent, open access, multilingual journal | | | --- | --- | | Arizona State University | | | Volume 33 Number 52 September 11, 2025 ISSN 1068-2341 | | Taxpayer-Funded Private School Vouchers and Market Failure: A Policy Scan and Review from 1869 to 2024 DavidE. DeMatthews The University of Texas at Austin United States Torri D. Hart The University of Texas at Austin United States & DavidS. Knight University of Washington United States Citation: DeMatthews, D. E., Hart, T. D., & Knight, D. S. (2025) . Taxpayer-funded private school vouchers and market failure: A policy scan and review from 1869 to 2024 . Education Policy Analysis Archives, 33(52). [https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.33.9019](https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.33.9019) Abstract: More than 70 years ago, Milton Friedman argued in favor of vouchers as a policy tool to increase the quality of the nation’s education system. Since then, economists and other education policy researchers have studied several waves of taxpayer-funded private school voucher policies that have emerged. Too often, these researchers have ignored the policy history of vouchers or adequately described market theories and assumptions of competitive markets as they evaluated the impact of voucher programs on student outcomes. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review and analysis of state-legislated voucher policies in the United States from 1869 to 2024, which includes a policy scan of historical and contemporary voucher legislation and the extent to which vouchers successfully established education marketplaces that produced efficient and valued educational outcomes. We found little evidence that private school vouchers created markets that produced valued educational outcomes. In many cases, policymakers used vouchers as a tool to maintain racial segregation or the programs failed to increase student achievement outcomes. We detail how these failures underscore how education markets do not meet basic assumptions of competitive markets. This article concludes with recommendations for education policy researchers and next generation research related to private school vouchers. Keywords: vouchers; market theory; education policy; school choice Vouchers para escuelas privadas financiados con fondos públicos y fracaso del mercado: Un análisis y revisión de políticas de 1869 a 2024 Resumen: Hace más de 70 años, Milton Friedman defendió los vouchers como una herramientade política para mejorar la calidad del sistema educativo nacional. Desde entonces, economistas y otros investigadores de políticas educativas han estudiado varias oleadas de políticas sobre vouchers para escuelas privadas financiadas con impuestos públicos. Sin embargo, condemasiada frecuencia estos investigadores han ignorado la historia de las políticas de vouchers ono han descrito adecuadamente las teorías de mercado y las suposiciones de mercados competitivos al evaluar el impacto de los programas de vouchers en los resultados estudiantiles. En este artículo ofrecemos una revisión y análisis integral de las políticas de vouchers legisladasa nivel estatal en Estados Unidos entre 1869 y 2024, lo cual incluye un mapeo de legislaciones históricas y contemporáneas sobre vouchers y el grado en que lograron establecer mercadoseducativos que produjeran resultados eficientes y valorados. Encontramos poca evidencia de que los vouchers para escuelas privadas crearan mercados que produjeran resultados educativosvalorados. En muchos casos, los responsables de políticas usaron los vouchers como herramienta para mantener la segregación racial o los programas fracasaron en mejor ar el rendimiento académico estudiantil. Detallamos cómo estos fracasos subrayan que los mercadoseducativos no cumplen con los supuestos básicos de los mercados competitivos. Este artículoconcluye con recomendaciones para investigadores de políticas educativas y para la próx

FAQs

What period of voucher policy does the article cover?

It reviews taxpayer-funded private school voucher policies in the United States from 1869 to 2024, including historical and contemporary legislation.

What does the article conclude about whether vouchers created effective education markets?

The article finds little evidence that private school vouchers created markets producing valued educational outcomes.

Why does the article argue vouchers may have failed to improve outcomes?

It reports that vouchers were sometimes used to maintain racial segregation and, in many cases, did not increase student achievement, suggesting education markets do not meet competitive-market assumptions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dawugda