At “Quasi-Public” Private Schools, 100% of Students Get Tuition Vouchers. There’s Almost No Accountability.

At some point, my reporting colleagues and I began referring to them as the “100% schools.” We were following the money that flows from states’ public coffers into private schools through vouchers when we noticed a subset of educational facilities where tax dollars cover all or a big part of the tuition for every student. In essence, these were schools that were funded like public schools but didn’t operate with the same oversight or transparency.
Reported by 1 outlet — ProPublica. See all sources ↓
At some point, my reporting colleagues and I began referring to them as the “100% schools.” We were following the money that flows from states’ public coffers into private schools through vouchers when we noticed a subset of educational facilities where tax dollars cover all or a big part of the tuition for every student. In essence, these were schools that were funded like public schools but didn’t operate with the same oversight or transparency. Our reporting found that these types of private schools exist throughout the country and that in Wisconsin — where I’m based — there were 39 that fell into that category during the most recent school year. Together, they were educating 7,923 children and taking in roughly $87 million from vouchers offered by the state.
Read the full report at ProPublica ↗
Why it matters
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- What's the story?
- At some point, my reporting colleagues and I began referring to them as the “100% schools.” We were following the money that flows from states’ public coffers into private schools through vouchers when we noticed a subset of educational facilities where tax dollars cover all or a big part of the tuition for every student. In essence, these were schools that were funded like public schools but didn’t operate with the same oversight or transparency.
- How widely is it covered?
- 1 outlet, average source rating 9.0/10.
- When was it last updated?
- 6m ago.
How outlets are framing the same story
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- Coverage card1 outlet1CoverageScouting report
At “Quasi-Public” Private Schools, 100% of Students Get Tuition Vouchers. There’s Almost No Accountability.
Sources1TypeCoverageProPublica