Working to Keep Public Funds in Public Schools! PFPS 2025 Year in Review

Every child deserves a strong, well-resourced public school. But private education voucher programs continue to drain public dollars away from public schools that serve the vast majority of students nationwide.

In 2025, Education Law Center’s Public Funds Public Schools campaign met the growing voucher threat head on. As voucher proponents pushed aggressively at both the state and federal levels, PFPS expanded our litigation, policy advocacy, technical assistance, research, communications, and legislative analyses, to defend public education as a cornerstone of our democracy.

And there is reason for hope going into 2026. Across the country, courts are striking down unconstitutional voucher programs; voters are rejecting vouchers at the ballot box; and communities are raising their voices to protect public education.

PFPS will continue to lead the fight to ensure public funds remain where they belong: in public schools. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Education Law Center to support PFPS.

Below are some highlights of our work in 2025 and what to watch for in the year ahead.

Federal Advocacy

In response to the federal voucher program enacted through Congress’s budget reconciliation bill in July 2025, PFPS released a two-page Advocacy Tool and a Frequently Asked Questions guide explaining the program and reasons why states must opt out to protect public education. PFPS also made a submission in response to the federal government’s request for comments on potential guidance and regulations to implement the voucher program, reiterating the many ways such programs harm students, schools, and communities.

ELC Executive Director Bob Kim published an op-ed in The Progressive urging governors to reject the federal voucher scheme.

At the invitation of Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), ELC Litigation Director and Director of PFPS Jessica Levin testified before a House Education and Workforce Subcommittee about the dangers of private school vouchers. Watch a short clip of her testimony here.

PFPS will continue to monitor implementation of the federal voucher program and provide guidance and resources to advocates and policymakers working to defend public schools.

Litigation

PFPS and co-counsel filed a lawsuit, Young v. Lee, on behalf of Tennessee parents and taxpayers challenging the constitutionality of the state’s universal voucher program, which diverts public funds to private schools that lack accountability and openly discriminate against students. The same co-counsel team also continued to litigate Bichell v. Lee, a challenge to Tennessee’s earlier voucher law targeted at specific counties.

PFPS and allies filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in Montana Quality Education Coalition v. State of Montana, a case challenging Montana’s voucher program for students with disabilities. The amicus brief was filed in support of the plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion in the trial court, which recently declared the voucher law unconstitutional.

PFPS and allies submitted an amicus curiae brief in St. Dominic Academy v. Makin urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to uphold the application of Maine’s antidiscrimination requirements to all schools receiving public funds, whether public or private, religious or secular. PFPS also filed amicus briefs in two other cases presenting similar issues at the end of 2024.

At the end of the year, PFPS and allies filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the plaintiffs in Columbus City School District v. State of Ohio, a challenge to Ohio’s universal voucher program. PFPS will continue to file amicus briefs supporting legal challenges to vouchers in 2026.

Additionally, PFPS continued monitoring and reporting on voucher lawsuits across the country, including significant wins in Wyoming, Ohio, and Utah.

Visit PFPS’s Litigation page for more information about lawsuits challenging private school voucher programs.

Research

ELC, which directs PFPS, released a research tool that estimates the potential price tag of a universal voucher program in any state. The tool allows users to project how much taxpayer funding would be diverted to pay for private education, including how much of the total price would fund vouchers for students already attending private school.

The PFPS website’s Research page was updated with dozens of studies, including some published as recently as 2025, showing the harms of voucher programs. The research covers a wide range of topics, including student achievement, fiscal impact, lack of accountability, students with disabilities, discrimination, and segregation, as well as a new section of reports debunking voucher proponents’ claims.

Check the Interactive Tools and Research pages of the PFPS website for updates, including the launch of a new interactive map of voucher programs across the country.

Policy Advocacy

PFPS updated the two-page fact sheet, The Myths of Cost Savings From Private School Vouchers, with new research detailing the harmful impacts of voucher programs, including:

• The high cost of universal vouchers;
• Instances of significant fraud and abuse in state-level voucher programs;
• Examples of high numbers of vouchers subsidizing the education of students already attending private school; and
• How vouchers lead private schools to increase tuition costs.

PFPS and Advancement Project co-authored a policy brief explaining how private education vouchers contribute to the closure of neighborhood public schools—eliminating a vital community resource that welcomes and serves all children.

PFPS monitored and analyzed hundreds of voucher bills across all 50 states and the U.S. Congress during 2025 legislative sessions. This information is available on the PFPS bill tracking tool. Users can now also search their state for legislation to opt in or out of the federal voucher program.

PFPS responded to dozens of requests for technical assistance from advocates, attorneys, and policymakers across the country on issues related to private education vouchers.

Find additional tools for advocates on the Advocacy page of the PFPS website.

Communications

The PFPS interview series continued to highlight state and local advocates with a conversation featuring Nancy Loome, Executive Director of The Parents’ Campaign, and Michael Cormack, Deputy Superintendent of Jackson Public Schools, about Mississippi’s voucher fight in 2024 and successful advocacy strategies to oppose these dangerous programs.

PFPS also continued to host a webinar series on issues related to private school vouchers and the campaign’s goal of keeping public funds in public schools:

• PFPS staff and invited guests shared information, tools, and strategies to help advocates prepare for crucial state and federal fights over vouchers in 2025, including a demonstration of the PFPS bill tracker and our private and public school student enrollment data tool.
• Jessica Levin (ELC/PFPS), Josh Cowen (former ELC Senior Fellow), Fred Jones (Southern Education Foundation), and Paige Duggins-Clay (IDRA) discussed state and federal developments on vouchers and the latest tips on how to oppose voucher threats.
• Fred Jones (Southern Education Foundation), Jessica Levin (ELC/PFPS), and Laura Petty (Advancement Project) discussed how private education vouchers contribute to the closure of neighborhood public schools and how advocates can fight to protect them.
• Kevin Welner (CU Boulder/National Education Policy Center) and Bethany Little (EducationCounsel) discussed the federal voucher program and other federal actions undermining public education with PFPS Co-Founder Tamerlin Godley.

Josh Cowen, a Senior Fellow at ELC for the first half of 2025, published 8 articles in his newsletter series for PFPS, covering a range of topics related to private school vouchers and the right-wing assault on public schools.

More PFPS interviews and webinars are planned for the year ahead.

Stay Connected!

Sign up here to receive PFPS updates. Visit the PFPS website regularly to access continually updated information on voucher-related litigation, legislation, advocacy, and research. Follow us on Facebook, BlueSky, X, and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the work of PFPS.

Please consider making a donation here. Be on the lookout for PFPS merchandise coming in 2026.

PFPS thanks the innumerable public school supporters—parents, students, educators, organizers, attorneys, policymakers, and concerned citizens—who we stand alongside in the urgent effort to oppose vouchers and protect public education for all children across the nation. We look forward to continuing this vital work with you in the new year.