Legislators around the country continue to push for private school vouchers, despite increasing evidence that they just don’t work. The programs in Wisconsin and Florida have both recently made the news for new and continuing problems.

Poor Academics and Accountability

Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released state standardized test scores from 2013, showing results from both traditional public schools and voucher schools. Unsurprisingly, voucher schools still lag behind public schools on average. Even though Wisconsin’s voucher program is one of the oldest in the country, its voucher schools are still three percentage points behind in math and in reading.

And those numbers only reflect the voucher students who didn’t opt out of the state exam. Of all voucher students in tested grades, 2.7 percent opted out of testing, compared to only .1 percent of public school students. In four of the participating private schools, every single voucher student opted out of the state exam.

Fewer English Language Learner Services

Florida has the largest backdoor voucher program in the country. As a state with a vast English Language Learner (ELL) population, Florida should have an education system that provides exceptional protections for these students. The tuition tax credit program, which is available to already disadvantaged, low-income students, instead strips students of the legal protections that would give them adequate language instruction.

Traditional public schools legally must require the following: ELL programs must be state approved, accept extra funding from the state to ensure correct implementation and accountability, require extra training for teachers of ELL students, require testing of ELL students to determine needs, and require that ELL students are held to same standards as all public school students in terms of curriculum and state testing.

When students attend a voucher school, they are no longer guaranteed these protections. Some voucher schools may voluntarily provide them, but due to the lack of regulations, quality control, and reporting requirements, there is often no way of knowing how students in the program are treated.

Florida legislators will be voting on legislation to expand this ineffective backdoor voucher program as early as today. If you live in Florida, contact your Senator and urge him or her not to expand this program.

Taxpayers should not fund programs that claim to provide great opportunity for vulnerable students when they actually may provide a worse education. With all of the problems in addition to a lack of academic accountability, voucher programs remain irresponsible policy. To stay up to date on school vouchers in your state, check out the State Action Center.