Public Money Is Fueling an Explosion of Private Schools. States Often Don’t Care How They’re Run.

A ProPublica investigation finds that taxpayer dollars are fueling a rapid expansion of private schools while states largely decline to regulate who runs them or how. According to ProPublica, its analysis of thirteen states that publish directories counted more than nine thousand six hundred private schools, at least one thousand five hundred more than five years ago. The report says many states exercise little oversight of founders' backgrounds, student safety, or academic results, even as public money covers nearly all tuition at some schools. EdChoice, a group that advocates for these programs, estimated that states allocated ten point six billion dollars last year to plans that can pay for private-school tuition, a twenty-nine percent increase over the prior year. With roughly thirty states now offering such programs and a new federal tax-credit plan on the way, ProPublica reports the growth is outpacing any accounting of where the schools are or who they admit.

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