These programs take money out of the public school system to fund private education. There is no evidence that vouchers improve student learning.
Parental choice is a misnomer.
Private school admissions offices make the choice of which students to admit or reject. Most students using vouchers have never attended public schools. The first school voucher program in the United States was begun in 1989 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to an audit performed by the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau in February 2000, the success or failure of the Milwaukee private school voucher program could not be accurately measured because uniform testing is not required in participating schools. It was also not possible to determine whether the schools meet the needs of special needs students because participating schools are not required to share that information.