We know that vouchers fail in at least two ways. First, vouchers do not raise student achievement. They also hyper-segregate schools, typically by excluding students with disabilities, students learning English, and children from low-wealth families.

Nevertheless, a large school district in Colorado adopted a plan to use about $3 million of its public education tax revenues to start a voucher program in the 2011-12 school year. Most of the private schools where the Douglas County School District wanted to pay tuitions are religious schools that require teachers, parents, and potential students to agree to religious tenets.