The Times Argus: School choice economics

Originally published on the Times Argus website 2/3/2026

The Economic Realities of School Choice: Jess DeCarolis

In the last 30 years, Vermont has created a public school system where a small minority of towns representing 18% of the population get to choose to have their private school education publicly funded. The majority of Vermonters – 82% – do not.

But the majority does support the minority’s private school education, increasingly at the expense of their public schools' operational capacity.

This needs to be part of the education debate happening now. Excluding it poses an economic threat to Vermont taxpayers, and risks exacerbating an already widening opportunity gap between the haves and have-nots.

For example, research on “school choice” programs have shown that while voucher students perform no better than their peers who remain in public schools, these programs reduce funding for public schools.^[1] Indiana’s voucher programs alone cost the state’s public schools $115 million in 2014-2015.

A 2021 economic analysis estimated the expansion of school choice programs would result in a $66.5 to $203 billion cost to taxpayers annually. The VT Redistricting Task Force identified a similar trend in Vermont (see p. 37) - with increasing costs passed on to families paying tuition (who have to make up the difference), as well as to taxpayers who pay a higher premium for publicly-funded, private school tuition.

Some might say that’s a problem for bigger states; that the cost to Vermonters is a drop in the bucket. But consider St. Johnsbury Academy’s 2024 tax filing, indicating a total revenue of $38,416,850 in 2023.  Their 2025 school report reflects that 43% of their revenues are from public tax dollars (p.15) – that’s $16.5M of public education funds to one private school alone.

Considering we have 45 private schools approved to receive public education dollars this is no small drop. And without an honest conversation about school choice, I’m afraid that Vermont might need a bigger bucket.

^[1] Jabbar et. al., 2019; NYU EJ-ROC; and Economic Policy Institute