Education

Vouchers and education savings accounts

145 public statements from 2026 candidates

§1The range of views

Why this matters: They affect which schools families can afford and how much funding stays with local public schools.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

Programs, often called school choice, that give families public money to pay for private school, homeschooling or other education costs.

  1. Make them available to every family
  2. Offer them only to some students, such as those from low-income families or with disabilities
  3. No public money for private school or homeschooling costs

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Make them available to every family (10)

  • Sarah Huckabee Sanders AR Governor
    Her official biography and campaign website say that as governor she enacted Arkansas LEARNS, an overhaul of the state's education system that they say included higher teacher pay and universal school choice.1,2
  • Rudy Recile CA-8
    His campaign website says education money should follow the child and that parents should be able to choose where their children are taught.3
  • David Pan CA-46
    His campaign website says he supports charter schools and school vouchers so that all parents can choose the best education for their children.4
  • Michael Gist FL-6
    His campaign website said his proposed Freedom Accounts Act of 2027 would let parents direct the federal education money credited to a child's account to the public school district, private school or home program they choose.5,6
  • Scott Eckhard Jewett FL Governor
    His campaign website says education funding should follow each student to the family's choice of public, charter, private or home school, and that choice should be open to every parent.7,8
  • Steven A. Hohe KS-3
    His campaign website says a portion of tax revenues should go toward education, healthcare and nutritional support for children overseen by parents, and that each child should have an educational account controlled by the parents that follows the child.9
  • Robert E Brooks Sr OK Governor
    His education plan says parents should be free to choose public, charter, private, faith-based, home or online schooling, with education funding following the student.10
  • Ken Krawchuk PA Governor
    His campaign website proposes privatizing Pennsylvania's public schools by giving every student an education savings account of about $11,500 a year from existing state funding, which parents could use at any school.11,12
  • Marsha Blackburn TN Governor
    Her campaign website says she supports school choice, would work to give every child access to an education that fits their needs regardless of family income or ZIP code, and would fully carry out Tennessee's new school choice law.13
  • Pat Dixon TX Governor
    His campaign website says the state should not turn away so many of the students who applied for its education savings account program, and that ideally every child would receive the same amount of money to use at any school.14,15

Offer them only to some students, such as those from low-income families or with disabilities (4)

  • David Jolly FL Governor
    His campaign website says the state's private school voucher program should be limited by income to families with economic need, and that schools taking vouchers should meet public school standards, provide the same specialized services and not charge extra tuition.16
  • Dean Ocean Abrams FL Governor
    His campaign website says he supports school choice but would restore income limits on vouchers.17
  • Rob Sand IA Governor
    His campaign website says Iowa's private school voucher program takes resources from public schools, and his accountability plan calls for income limits so the money goes to families who need it most, annual audits of the program and limits on tuition increases.18,19
  • Lauren Pinkston TN Governor
    Her campaign website says she would end the 2025 school voucher program and move its money to early childhood education, while expanding vouchers for students with needs that mainstream classrooms cannot meet.20

No public money for private school or homeschooling costs (36)

  • Amanda N. Pusczek AL-4
    Her campaign website opposes private school voucher programs such as Alabama's CHOOSE Act and says states that use public money for vouchers should lose an equal amount of federal Title I and special education funding.21
  • Andrew Sneed AL-5
    His campaign website says he opposes Alabama's CHOOSE Act and all school voucher programs.22
  • Colt Shelby AR Governor
    His campaign website says he opposes school voucher programs that redirect public education money to private alternatives, saying they drain resources from rural public schools.23,24
  • Mai Vang CA-7
    Her campaign website says she would protect public school funding and resist efforts to send public money to charter schools or private school vouchers.25
  • Angélica María Dueñas CA-29
    Her campaign website opposes any voucher system, including one run through tax credits, that would send public education money to private schools.26
  • Samantha Mota CA-37
    Her campaign website says she opposes all school vouchers.27
  • Jason Crow CO-6
    His campaign website says he is fighting in Congress against school funding cuts and voucher proposals.28
  • Jasmine Clark GA-13
    Her campaign website says she opposes efforts to divert funding to private and charter schools, and that schools need leaders who fully fund them.29
  • Josh Turek IA Senate
    His campaign website says he would end school vouchers, and that in the Iowa House he sponsored legislation to repeal them.30,31
  • Kaylee Peterson ID-1
    Her campaign website says not a single cent of taxpayer funds should be diverted to private education.32
  • Terri Pickens ID Governor
    Her campaign website says she would repeal Idaho's school voucher program.33
  • John R. Stegner ID Governor
    His campaign website says he would work to reverse the effects of Idaho's school voucher law and return to public education the more than $50 million it says the law took from it.34
  • La Shawn K. Ford IL-7
    His campaign website says he will push back against voucher programs that, it says, drain classrooms.35
  • Melissa L. Bean IL-8
    Her campaign website says she will stand with teachers and public schools by opposing vouchers that drain schools of tax dollars.36
  • Nikki Budzinski IL-13
    Her campaign website says she is strongly opposed to efforts to privatize the school system through vouchers.37
  • Charles Booker KY Senate
    His campaign website says he opposes moving public school funding to private school vouchers.38
  • Lauren Jewett LA-1
    Her campaign website says she will oppose voucher and education savings account programs, which she says jeopardize public school funding.39
  • Tia LeBrun LA-3
    Her campaign website's Key Issues page says public money should not go to private schools.40
  • Abdul El-Sayed MI Senate
    His campaign website says he opposes vouchers and other programs that move public education money into private hands.41
  • Peggy Flanagan MN Senate
    Her campaign website says the federal government should have a larger role in funding K-12 education, without a voucher program.42
  • Josh Smead MO-6
    His campaign website lists no school vouchers because they divert funding from public schools, and no federal money going to private religious schools.43
  • Chris Reichard MO-8
    His Issues page lists ending private school voucher systems, which it says take resources from public education, among the fixes for education funding.44
  • Jeffrey Hulum III MS-4
    His campaign website’s FAQ page says he is against school choice programs that send public money to private schools.45
  • Alani Bankhead MT Senate
    Her campaign website says she opposes federal voucher and tax-credit programs that send public money to private schools.46
  • Seth Bodnar MT Senate
    His campaign website says he will oppose school vouchers that send public tax dollars to private schools.47
  • Sam Forstag MT-1
    His campaign website lists keeping public money in public schools among his education priorities.48
  • Alma S. Adams NC-12
    Her campaign website says she opposes all school voucher programs and will work to make sure public schools are adequately funded.49
  • Mark Cohen NE-3
    His campaign website says he will fight to keep public funds from going to private schools, and that charter schools and vouchers draw money away from rural public schools.50
  • Lynne Walz NE Governor
    Her campaign website says she would reject all forms of school vouchers, following the vote of Nebraska voters.51
  • Cinde Warmington NH Governor
    Her campaign website says taxpayer dollars belong in public schools and that she would reverse New Hampshire's school voucher program.52,53
  • Amy Acton OH Governor
    Her campaign website says she would reform Ohio's school voucher system, which it says sends billions in taxpayer money to private schools without transparency or accountability, and that public money should be for public schools.54
  • Cyndi Munson OK Governor
    Her campaign website says she would repeal Oklahoma's Parental Choice Tax voucher program, which it says diverts nearly $300 million in public money to private schools.55
  • Jerri Green TN Governor
    Her platform opposes the state's private school voucher program and would put that money into public schools instead.56
  • Dave Seeman TN Governor
    His campaign website calls for ending Tennessee's private school vouchers and redirecting that money to public schools.57,58
  • James Talarico TX Senate
    His campaign website says he opposes private school voucher programs and would keep public money in public schools.59,60
  • Gina Hinojosa TX Governor
    Her campaign website says she would end the state's school voucher program and keep taxpayer money in neighborhood public schools.61

Statements that don't match one option (95)

  • Dave Bronson AK Governor
    His campaign website says he supports school choice, including vouchers, and would expand charter schools and raise education tax credits to $3,000 per student for private schools, charters, homeschooling and tutoring.62
  • Treg Taylor AK Governor
    His campaign website says he defended Alaska's correspondence school program for 22,000 students, and that families should be able to choose how and where their children are educated.63
  • Bernadette M. Wilson AK Governor
    Her campaign website says Alaska should seriously consider education savings accounts, backpack funding and similar models, and says families who cannot afford private school or tutoring have fewer options than wealthier families.64
  • Terri Sewell AL-7
    Her campaign website says she introduced legislation to close tax loopholes that let wealthy donors profit from donations to private schools, and says tax breaks should not divert money from public schools.65
  • Tommy Tuberville AL Governor
    His campaign website says that as governor he would expand school choice and support charter, magnet, private, public and home schools.66
  • Tom Cotton AR Senate
    His campaign website says he supports school choice so parents can pick the best option for their children.67
  • Robb Ryerse AR-3
    His campaign website says school choice programs often take money out of public schools, and calls for fully funding public schools and paying teachers more.68
  • Peter Sundin Soulé CA-16
    His campaign website says he supports school vouchers and federal policies that let parents send their children to the school of their choice.69,70
  • Peter Coe Verbica CA-19
    His campaign website lists school choice and merit-based education among the causes he advocates.71
  • Eric Ching CA-31
    His campaign website says he supports school choice and would empower parents to decide which schools are best for their children.72
  • Stephanie M. Vargas CA-33
    Her campaign website says she is committed to giving parents the freedom to choose the school setting where their children will thrive.73
  • Mike Cargile CA-35
    His campaign website says parents should be able to choose among public, online, private, charter and home schools for their children.74
  • Pedro Antonio Casas CA-38
    His campaign website says he supports private school vouchers.75
  • Mitch Clemmons CA-41
    An earlier version of his campaign home page, still on the site, lists empowering parents with school choice among his priorities.76
  • Brian Burley CA-42
    A platform document on his campaign website says he supports school choice.77
  • Cristian Morales CA-43
    His campaign website's platform says he supports school choice and public, charter, private and vocational education options.78
  • Bob Chew CO Senate
    His campaign website says parents deserve real choices, and that families should be able to choose the schools that best meet their children's needs, with support so they can afford it.79
  • Kelley Anne Dennison CO-2
    Her campaign website says she would promote school choice, including public, charter, private and career-focused schools and homeschooling.80
  • Lauren Boebert CO-4
    Her campaign's Contract with Colorado says charter schools and school choice work and that local decision-making is better.81
  • Gabe Evans CO-8
    His campaign website supports educational freedom so families can choose the education that works best for them.82
  • Victor Marx CO Governor
    His campaign website says he would support letting school funding follow the student to public, charter, online, home or private schools, and expand education savings accounts.83
  • Greg Lopez CO Governor
    His campaign website says he would expand educational options in every district through school choice, charter schools, home schooling support and vocational programs.84
  • Michael Ted Goldstein CT-4
    His campaign platform calls for promoting school choice and for vocational training vouchers.85
  • Randy Fine FL-6
    His campaign website says that in the Florida House he sponsored the largest school choice expansion in U.S. history.86
  • Ryan Elijah FL-7
    His campaign website says he supports parental rights and school choice so families can make the best decisions for their children.87
  • Joe Strada FL-11
    His campaign website calls for expanding school choice so families can choose a public, charter, private or home school for their child.88
  • Ralph Groves FL-11
    His campaign website says parents should have a broad range of options, including vouchers and homeschooling.89
  • Kimberly Overman FL-12
    Her campaign platform says she opposes efforts to privatize public education dollars without accountability.90
  • Branden Scrivener FL-12
    His campaign website says he believes in parent choice but that funding for public education should not be diverted to charter and other third-party school systems.91
  • Mike Beltran FL-14
    His campaign website says he worked for school choice in the Florida legislature so that families can pick the school and education that suit them, and that he would carry that effort to Washington.92
  • Brian Lambert FL-14
    His campaign website says every family should be free to choose the educational path that fits their child, including public school, charter school, private school or homeschool.93
  • Laurel Lee FL-15
    Her campaign website says the tax law she advocated for expands education savings accounts.94
  • Jim Schwartzel FL-19
    His campaign website says he will work to privatize government functions, including expanding school choice.95
  • Brian Mast FL-21
    His campaign website says school choice is very important to him and that he will keep advocating for dollars to follow students so that parents can pick the school they judge best for their children.96
  • Te Mayonna Brown FL-24
    Her campaign website says she supports sending federal education money straight to parents, funding students rather than systems, so that families can choose a public, charter, private or home school.97
  • Mario Diaz-Balart FL-26
    His campaign website lists backing the first federal school choice tax credit and increasing charter school funding by $60 million among his accomplishments.98
  • Eddy Rojas FL-28
    His campaign website says he would fight for school choice, vocational training and affordable higher education.99
  • Byron Donalds FL Governor
    His campaign website says education money should follow the student so parents can choose their child's school, and lists leading the effort to enact Hope Scholarships in the Florida House among his accomplishments.100,101
  • Jonathan Chavez GA-13
    His platform says he would protect and strengthen the new federal scholarship tax credit for K-12 scholarship donations, fight to keep it funded and raise its cap, and advocate more funding and oversight for public charter schools; his home page says he would advocate for school choice.102,103
  • Rick Jackson GA Governor
    His action plan says he would protect educational choice so parents can pick a traditional public school, charter school, private school or homeschool for their child.104
  • Christina Bohannan IA-1
    Her campaign website says Iowa's voucher plan drains resources from public schools, and that she supports a substantial national investment in public education at every level.105
  • Lindsay James IA-2
    Her campaign website criticizes Iowa's private school voucher program, saying it is designed to benefit those who are already fortunate.106
  • Sarah Trone Garriott IA-3
    Her campaign website says private school vouchers divert millions of taxpayer dollars away from public schools while rural schools consolidate or close.107
  • Zach Lahn IA Governor
    His campaign website says he supports school choice, homeschooling and education savings accounts, alongside strengthening public schools.108,109
  • Natalie M Fleming ID Senate
    Her campaign website proposes federally equalized per-pupil funding for public schools and a federal Homeschool Family Support Fund that would give homeschool families per-child stipends for curriculum, co-op fees and specialist services.110
  • Brad Little ID Governor
    His campaign website lists new school choice options for families among his accomplishments.111
  • Christian Maxwell IL-1
    Her campaign website's FAQ says she supports school choice and parental empowerment while strengthening public schools.112
  • Patty Garcia IL-4
    Her campaign website says public education should be funded, protected and accountable to students, parents and educators rather than privatized for profit.113
  • Lupe Castillo IL-4
    Her campaign website says she supports school choice so that everyone, not only the wealthy, has access to educational opportunities, including school choice for poor families.114,115
  • Chris Getty IL-4
    His campaign website says he will evaluate school choice programs based on whether they improve opportunities for all students.116
  • Jennifer Davis IL-8
    Her campaign website says she supports a range of educational options, including public, charter, private and home schools, so families can choose what works best for their children.117
  • Jeff Walter IL-11
    His campaign website says he supports expanding school choice so families have access to the best educational setting for their children, whether public, private, charter or vocational pathways.118
  • Whitfield Harrington Jr IL Senate
    His campaign website says he supports school choice.119
  • Marlin A. Stutzman IN-3
    His campaign website says more school and education choices and greater parental involvement help students succeed, and that this can be done at the state level in a variety of ways.120
  • J.D. Ford IN-5
    His campaign platform says he opposes taking money from public schools to fund private schools that it calls unaccountable.121
  • Cindy Holscher KS Governor
    Her campaign website says she has worked to block efforts to expand private school vouchers.122
  • Julia Letlow LA Senate
    Her campaign website says she would expand school choice.123
  • Misti Cordell LA-5
    Her campaign website says she will fight for school choice and return education to local communities.124
  • Larry Davis III LA-6
    His campaign website's Policies page lists school choice and support for vocational programs among his education goals.125
  • Stephen Wagley LA-6
    His campaign website says he has fought for school choice at the state and national levels.126
  • Michael Roger Minogue MA Governor
    His campaign website says he would opt Massachusetts into the federal scholarship tax credit to fund scholarships through scholarship-granting organizations, and expand charter, technical and vocational schools.127
  • Andy Harris MD-1
    His official House website says he strongly supports school choice, pointing to charter schools in Maryland as giving parents more options and saying vouchers would let low-income families send their children to private schools when their local public schools are failing them.128
  • John "Johnny O" Olszewski, Jr. MD-2
    His campaign website says he is pushing back against Trump administration education policies that it says include diverting taxpayer dollars to private schools.129
  • Ronald C. Russell ME-1
    His campaign website says he would embrace reforms such as school choice, along with measuring results and rewarding what works.130
  • Jack Bergman MI-1
    His campaign website says he supports educational freedom, meaning families' choice among public, private, charter, career and technical, and home schooling, and lists school choice among the things he will keep working on.131
  • John Moolenaar MI-2
    His campaign website says he strongly supports school choice, including policies that let families pick the educational setting that suits their child. It points to a federal tax credit of up to 1,700 dollars, starting in 2027, for donations to state-approved scholarship granting organizations, and says he hopes Michigan's next governor will have the state take part.132
  • C. Mia Pettus MI-8
    Her campaign website lists school choice across public, charter, private and homeschool options, with funding that follows the student, among its education priorities.133
  • James D. Hooper MI-12
    His campaign website's 2022 About page says parents should pick the kind of schooling that suits their children best, whether traditional public, private or charter school, homeschooling or a mix of these.134
  • John James MI Governor
    His campaign website says he would opt Michigan into the new federal scholarship tax credit so parents can use scholarships at the school of their choice, and expand charter school options.135
  • Tom Emmer MN-6
    Its education section says he champions school choice policies and wants to empower local school boards.136
  • Lisa Demuth MN Governor
    Her campaign website says she would opt Minnesota into the new federal education tax credit, which it says would fund scholarships for public, charter and private school students.137
  • Tom Schmitz MO-1
    His campaign website says education should be fully privatized and moved to a free-market system, with parents responsible for managing and paying for a child's schooling and families free to choose their school.138,139
  • Bennie Foster MS-2
    His campaign website says education tax money should follow the student, so that parents who move a child to another district or choose another way of educating them are not required to fund a system they do not benefit from, and that strong public schools and parent options can exist together.140
  • Matthew Laszacs NC-2
    His campaign website's education page proposes expanding North Carolina's state-funded Education Savings Account and Opportunity Scholarship programs, expanding open enrollment within and between public school districts, and having education tax dollars follow the student.141
  • Guy Meilleur NC-4
    His campaign website says North Carolina should expand its state-funded Education Savings Account program to more students, expand and fully fund the Opportunity Scholarship program, and have education tax dollars follow the student.142
  • Mahesh (Max) Ganorkar NC-4
    His campaign website says parents should be able to choose their children's schools, and proposes funding students directly through school vouchers claimed on parents' tax returns, encouraging private and vocational schools, and judging schools by standardized test results.143
  • Colby Watson NC-8
    His campaign website's Education page says he supports strong public schools and parents' right to choose the educational path they think best for their family, noting that he was homeschooled.144
  • Mark Harris NC-8
    His campaign website's Issues page, under a heading on school choice, says families should be entirely free to pick public, private, charter or homeschool education and that he wants policies giving maximum flexibility.145
  • Pat Harrigan NC-10
    His campaign website says parents should have school-choice options right away while state leaders work to overhaul public schools.146
  • Brad Knott NC-13
    His campaign website says he supports school choice, so that parents can move their children out of schools he calls failing and into schools that meet their children's educational needs.147
  • Lily Tang Williams NH-2
    Her campaign website says school choice should not be only for wealthy families, that she supports parents' right to choose a school for their children, and that funding should follow the child.148
  • Justin Murphy NJ Senate
    His campaign website says he supports school choice for parents and competition among all schools, and would direct federal education money to local school boards for public schools and voucher programs.149
  • Hillary Herzig NJ-6
    Under education, it lists school choice, saying families should be free to pick the learning setting that suits their children best.150
  • Thomas H. Kean Jr. NJ-7
    The Meet Tom page also cites expanding school choice as an example of his approach to education initiatives.151
  • Rosie Pino NJ-9
    Her campaign issues page says she supports federal school choice policies, including charter schools and education savings accounts, with funding that follows each student.152
  • Joseph Lombardo NV Governor
    His campaign website says that when a public, charter or private school is a better fit for a child, the child should have the opportunity to attend it.153
  • Kevin Hern OK Senate
    His campaign website describes him as an advocate for school choice and says his bill, signed into law, lets families use tax-advantaged 529 accounts for K-12 costs at public, private, religious and home schools.154
  • Christine Drazan OR Governor
    Her campaign website says she supports school choice and would opt Oregon into a federal scholarship tax credit program to help students pay for tutoring, after-school programs and special education services.155
  • Stacy Garrity PA Governor
    Her campaign website supports passing Lifeline Scholarships, expanding the state's existing scholarship tax credit programs, and opting into the federal education tax credit scholarship program.156
  • Alan Wilson SC Governor
    His campaign website says he would expand school choice so families have more control over their children's education.157
  • Larry Rhoden SD Governor
    His campaign website lists opting South Dakota into the federal school choice program among his accomplishments.158
  • David Hatley TN Governor
    His campaign website says he would hold the school voucher program at its current size, let current students keep their seats, and publish data on who receives the money and how those students perform.159
  • Robert C. Vick TN Governor
    His campaign website says he respects parents' right to choose private or home schooling but is deeply concerned about universal school vouchers, saying they drain money from local public schools, and calls for a public-first approach.160
  • Ted Brown TX Senate
    His campaign website says he supports tuition tax credits for families who send children to private school, and it prefers them to vouchers, which it says could lead to government control of private schools.161
  • S. Marshall Wilson WV Senate
    His campaign website says that as a state delegate he advocated for school choice.162