CEA joins coalition of State Education Association leaders urging Democratic governors to reject Trump’s federal voucher scheme
Connecticut Education Association President Kate Dias joined a coalition of union presidents representing educators in states with Democratic governors urging those governors to opt out of the Trump administration’s proposed federal private school voucher tax credit program and publicly reaffirm their commitment to public education.
In an open letter sent today, Dias and 32 other presidents of education unions representing millions of teachers, school staff, and public-school employees, warn that participation in the program would legitimize a federally subsidized tax shelter designed to accelerate privatization of public schools.
“Voucher schemes undermine the very foundation of public education by diverting public resources away from neighborhood schools and into private institutions that are not subject to the same standards of accountability, transparency, civil rights protections, or democratic oversight,” the letter reads. “These concerns are compounded by the well-documented history of voucher programs tracing back to efforts to resist school integration following desegregation, as well as repeated warnings from civil rights organizations that modern voucher schemes continue to deepen racial and economic segregation in education.”
“This voucher scheme doesn’t help kids in under-resourced public schools—it helps the wealthy and advances efforts to privatize public education,” said Dias. “Think about who actually has $1,700 lying around to make a qualifying charitable donation. It’s not the families these programs claim to help; it’s the wealthy families whose children are already in private schools. If the goal is to help disadvantaged students, the most effective and equitable investment is in our public schools that serve every child.”
The president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Stacy Davis Gates, and the president of New York State United Teachers, Melinda Person, spearheaded the multistate effort. “At this moment, educators, parents, and communities across the country are asking a simple question: Will Democratic governors stand up for public schools?” the letter asks.
The voucher program, a centerpiece of the Republican federal education agenda, would create a federal tax credit for donations to organizations that fund private school tuition. But time after time in state after state, data shows that voucher programs primarily subsidize families already enrolled in private schools while draining resources and causing devastating financial consequences in public school systems that serve the vast majority of students. Research also shows that vouchers are academically disruptive and harmful to students and drive more students into schools with discriminatory admissions policies.
The letter notes the program is a core element of Project 2025 and points to the 2024 Democratic National Committee platform, which explicitly opposed “private-school vouchers, tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, and other schemes that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education.”
The coalition is urging nearly two dozen governors still weighing their options to show their support for public education, or at a minimum wait until 2027 when the impacts of this program are better understood. Caution is the most prudent and defensible approach right now.
“Democratic governors have long served as a firewall against efforts to dismantle public institutions,” the letter states. “We urge you to continue that leadership now.”
Read the open letter signed by leaders representing millions of public-school employees in states with Democratic governors calling on those governors to reject voucher schemes.
