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Indiana spent roughly $439 million on its voucher program for the 2023-24 college yr as enrollment in personal faculties hit a report excessive, a surge pushed largely by college students from rich households.
The determine represents a $127 million improve from the $311 million the state spent on its voucher program final yr, based on the Alternative Scholarship Program annual report launched Friday. The variety of collaborating college students in 2023-24 elevated by roughly 32% from 2022-23.
Moreover, the variety of voucher college students from households making greater than $150,000 soared after lawmakers final yr abolished most necessities for participation and raised revenue eligibility to 400% of the brink to qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program.
Practically 8,000 college students in 2023-24 got here from households making between $150,000 to $200,000 yearly, up from round 2,800 in 2022-23 — a rise of 183%.
And the variety of voucher college students from households making greater than $200,000 elevated roughly tenfold, from 354 college students in 2022-23 to about 3,700 in 2023-24.
The variety of college students from these two revenue brackets mixed who used vouchers in 2023-24 elevated by 8,495, representing simply over half the full development of about 16,720 college students.
Among the many different revenue brackets, round 2,000 extra college students got here from households making as much as $50,000; a further 2,000 got here from households making between $50,000-$100,000; and the variety of college students from households making between $100,000 to $150,000 grew by somewhat greater than 4,000.
Critics of the voucher program warned final yr that enjoyable the revenue eligibility requirement would successfully subsidize college students from wealthier households to attend personal faculties. Supporters, in the meantime, mentioned enjoyable eligibility would give mother and father extra selections of their college students’ training.
Earlier information confirmed that non-public college enrollment in Indiana was growing, however not as rapidly as the speed of voucher use, indicating that many college students utilizing vouchers this yr had already been enrolled in personal faculties.
In a press release Friday on the voucher report, the Indiana State Academics Affiliation mentioned the enlargement funnels public funds “to those that can already afford personal faculties.”
“Public faculties, which serve 90% of Hoosiers’ kids, are open and nondiscriminatory, offering important providers and a standard basis for our numerous communities,” the ISTA mentioned. “Vouchers undermine this public good by siphoning restricted funds to non-public faculties that lack accountability and don’t serve all college students equitably.”
The report notes that had all 70,000 voucher college students attended their public faculties, the state would have paid round $516 million in public college funding. Nonetheless, nearly all of Alternative Scholarship college students have by no means attended a public college.
Voucher college students made up round 6.1% of enrollment statewide in 2023-24, based on the report, up from round 4.7% the yr earlier than.
The typical voucher pupil in Indiana is a white, elementary-aged woman who lives in a metropolitan space and comes from a family of round 4.7 individuals making round $100,000, based on the report.
An extra 14 faculties participated in this system in 2023-24, probably the most of any yr of this system.
Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana training coverage and writes about Okay-12 faculties throughout the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.
