School Vouchers Have A Transparency Problem
At Forbes.com, I take a look at three states with a voucher transparency problem. The third is New Hampshire:
In New Hampshire, the state’s voucher system was established just a few years ago, drawing funding both directly from the state and through tax credit scholarships. The Education Freedom Account program is managed by Children’s Scholarship Fund.
A 2022 law requires a performance audit of the program, but that has hit a snag— New Hampshire’s Department of Education asserts that Children’s Scholarship Fund is a private contractor, and therefor the Office of the Legislative Budget Assistant may not have access to the data they need to complete the audit.
The audit should include information such as public reporting of participation, student outcomes, and expenditures” as well as demographics of “qualifying applicants.” But unless someone requires CSF to open their files, that information may will stay hidden.
Critics like Deb Howes, AFT-New Hampshire president, have questioned the need to “keep the data in a black box and not turn it over for a legally required audit,” asking “Is something fishy going on?”
The lack of transparency may not be a matter of fishiness. In some states where more transparency has been followed, the data has shown a large number of voucher recipients are not low-income families looking to escape failing schools, but well off families whose children were already enrolled in private schools. Voucher fans may have to ask themselves what is worse— keeping taxpayers from seeing where their money is going, or letting them know.