When you think of taxation, what comes to mind? Perhaps, depending on your political bent, you think of words like “theft” or “IRS,” perhaps “increase” or “income.” Perhaps the famous phrase, “no taxation without representation,” also comes to mind. This memorable slogan, spoken by the American revolutionaries, helped spark the flame of revolt that engulfed the colonies and Great Britain in 1776.
As Thomas Jefferson put it in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom,
“To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical.”
The American founding fathers understood that those being taxed have a right to voice their opinion as to how tax money is spent.
So, when the American government, whether state or federal, collects taxes, we the people have the right to voice our demands on how that money should be spent. Since America is not a pure democracy but rather a representative republic, the method by which we voice our demands is through representation.
The School Choice Promise of “No Strings Attached”
Why ESA Vouchers Sound Too Good to Be True
Sadly, many Republican voters and legislators, who are supporters and propagators of the School Choice movement, have pushed aside this proper relationship between taxation and representation in favor of the empty promise of “no strings attached.” The School Choice movement makes a bold claim: ESA and voucher money will “follow the child” with zero government strings attached.
I heard this personally from prominent School Choice advocates who reassured me that families receive an ESA check and can spend it how they would like. No government intervention required; complete individual freedom assured. Sounds wonderful, right? It does, until we remember the lessons of the American Revolution.
When Government Money Follows Your Child
If School Choice advocates were able to actualize their promises into policy, taxpayer money would flow from the government and into the pockets of ESA students without restrictions or accountability for how that money is spent. What would the result of this be?
Arizona’s ESA Program Waste and Fraud Issues
Practically speaking, history, simple reasoning, and economic predictions tell us that money would be wasted, fraud would skyrocket, and taxes would be raised. In fact, Arizona’s ESA program is already facing issues of waste and fraud. Families have used voucher money to pay for home gyms, horseback riding lessons, and new televisions. How did this happen? It happened because Arizona has tried to have government funding without government accountability through representation.
How Taxpayer Money Gets Misused Without Oversight
When money is given out without “strings attached,” the people have no way of knowing how their taxpayer money is being spent.
When humanist public schools raised the banner of LGBTQIA+, Christians revolted, saying that the state had no right to use their money to fund such degeneracy. But what will happen when these schools are funded by “ESA money” with “no strings attached”? How can Christians leverage their political representation to stop the unjust spending of their money when the money cannot be traced?
Why “No Strings Attached” Violates Taxation Principles
The simple reality is that the School Choice promise of “no strings attached” is a violation of the principle “taxation without representation” because it upends the responsibility of the government to give an account to the people for how taxpayer funding is spent.
How School Choice Undermines Taxpayer Rights
School Choice is trying to have its cake and eat it too. It wants complete autonomy with fiscal accountability, but these two cannot coexist. So instead of delivering on its promise of “no strings,” School Choice will inevitably follow the rule of taxation and representation and usher government oversight into private, public, and home schools around the nation.
The moment tax dollars flow to private schools, citizens deserve—and should demand—a voice in how those funds are managed. So, we must ask, are we willing to make the entire public square a stakeholder in the funding and running of private and home schools?
Government Oversight Will Follow School Choice Funding
Why Regulation Always Follows Public Money
The government is also responsible to the people for how it spends their money; thus, they audit expenditures, investigate misuse, and create compliance departments and enforcement mechanisms. Consider the School Choice program in Florida. This formerly free state is already mandating testing and accountability measures for all students in their ESA program.
Oversight follows public money like gravity follows mass. It is a direct effect of the cause of public funding.
How School Choice Destroys Educational Independence
The Inevitable State Bureaucracy in Private Schools
As we have seen, regulation is an immediate and unavoidable result of government funding. This is to be expected because it is not only the money that follows the child, but also the state bureaucracy and the public square that are welcomed in.
School Choice advocates promise financial freedom without state oversight; however, this arrangement is impossible without first upending the principles of representation in government and oversight from the people.
Why Families Should Reject ESA Vouchers
Luckily, families do not have to allow money and government oversight to follow their child. You can refuse to subject yourself to public accountability by rejecting the false promise of School Choice advocates and choosing better for your family.
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