In the Phoenix metro area, ProPublica found that the poorer the ZIP code, the fewer school vouchers are being used. One reason? Only 6 of the county’s 200+ private schools are in areas where families earn less than 50% of the county’s median income.

In a State With School Vouchers For All, Low-Income Families Aren’t Choosing to Use Them

Working-class parents often express interest in vouchers. But in Arizona, the nation’s school choice capital, these families aren’t using them due to the inaccessibility of private schools and the cos...

School vouchers are a great way to take money from public schools and give it to rich parents whose kids are already attending private school.

While I appreciate the journalism ProPublica does, I wonder if there is any meaningful way to get past the apparently-obligatory assumption of good faith on the part of the opposition. Which is to say, yes, of course, because this program was designed to oppress minorities and kill public schools.

Check out the thread below to see how @lucaswaldron.bsky.social used data to bring this story to life ⬇️

lucaswaldron.bsky.socialOct 12, 2024 4:24pm

For our new @propublica.bsky.social story on access to school vouchers in AZ, we compared the # of vouchers used and median income in each ZIP code. The lowest income ZIPs often used < 2 vouchers per 100 kids. The highest income ZIPs used as many as 28 (!) vouchers per 100 kids.

When the city bus is your main mode of transportation or one parent has to leave at 4am for a job, it's not too easy to get kids to the "charter" schools. And then there's the cost of after-care, they might get 'free' education but the charters charge a shit ton for before and after school programs.

This sounds like a "No shit, Sherlock!" moment. Who could possibly have predicted it?

Who could have predicted it?

But don't call them segregation academies.