Conservatives are masters at using distortion and subterfuge to sell people on things they would never buy if properly labeled. Nowhere is this more evident than in the arena of ‘school choice” — a conservative euphemism for “gutting public education from the inside out.”

According to its major proponents,like [3] the late Milton ‘Pinochet es mi amigo” Friedman, ‘school choice gives parents the freedom to choose their children’s education, while encouraging healthy competition among schools to better serve families’ needs.” Sounds lovely! But, it turns out, there are plenty of well-documented problems with school choice, especially when it comes to the school voucher system, which provides families with public funds to send their children to private — often religious — schools.

Voucher [4] programs in particular have beenproven [5] to be largely ineffective [6]; theyweaken [7] the public school system, andfail to [8] address inequality, which may be why their supporters, like the Koch Brothers, Americans for Prosperity and Dick Morris, love them. Through their concerted efforts, vouchers are on the rise: In 2013, 15 states started orexpanded their voucher programs. [9]

Though supported with public funds, private schools engaged in voucher programs [10] lack the accountability and oversight applicable to public schools, […]