FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2025
Contact: Court Beyer, cbeyer@americanhumanist.org
WASHINGTON – The following is a statement from American Humanist Association Executive Director Fish Stark in response to a national school voucher proposal being included in the Ways and Means Committee-approved reconciliation bill:
“In addition to proposing devastating, inhumane cuts to Medicaid and other social services, the House is attempting to lay the groundwork for a nationwide private school voucher program in this year’s reconciliation package. They know just how unpopular outsourcing education to private, unaccountable schools is, and they’re hoping that no one notices this brazen power grab. Well, we noticed.
“If passed into law, this unprecedented funneling of public tax-payer dollars into private, religious schools would have enormous consequences for our communities. Every child deserves a public education that is funded, resourced, and supportive of individual needs and differences, but expanding private school vouchers to the extent proposed by Congress would undermine our public schools to disastrous effect. This proposal doesn’t create ‘choice,’ it creates a system of discrimination and educational impoverishment. We can’t let this legislation become law.
“School voucher programs don’t improve test scores, they don’t save taxpayers money, and most importantly – they don’t serve the needs of students. Congress included this language to give their wealthy donors a tax write-off, but their strategy doesn’t stop there; the movement to dismantle public secular education in America is alive and well, and we must do everything in our power to fight back.”
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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.