James Talarico CALLS OUT plan to funnel taxpayer dollars to billionaires

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eYklJKBGJlM

 

Thousands of Private Schools Take Public Money, Operate With Little Scrutiny — ProPublica

In this recent expansion, private schools have opened in farms and barns, addiction treatment centers, co-working spaces, people’s homes and parks, ProPublica’s review of 13 states found. A West Virginia family opened a school at the family fun center they operate. It’s next to the waterpark, mini golf course and go-kart track… 

One Michigan-based company that launched last year to encourage churches to tap into public funds refers to these programs in its promotional videos as “God’s new gold mine.”… 

 It’s common, for example, for both new and established religious schools to refuse to admit (or to expel) students who say they’re gay, who condone homosexuality or whose parents are gay. One school noted on its website that it is “permitted to discriminate on the basis of religion in accordance with our Statement of Faith.” Many schools decline to enroll students with disabilities. An Alabama school that opened this past fall says it will expel students who have HIV, gonorrhea or syphilis... 

…[A reporter] had recognized the name of a woman who’d just opened her own private school in the fall of 2025: Tara Salute… A 40-year-old vice president of the local Little League at the time, Salute in 2012 had been charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor after a drunken night at her home with her son’s friend, a sophomore in the district where she recently had taught elementary school. After intercourse, the teenager had snapped photos of her naked body on a futon as evidence…

 https://www.propublica.org/article/private-schools-vouchers-growth-florida-arizona-west-virginia

Why Are Florida Taxpayers Funding Catholic Schools?

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/d_pHz3kikZI

FFRF Action Fund | TAKE ACTION: Tell YOUR governor to REJECT the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program!

Public education funding is under attack!

A federal voucher program, known as the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC), was passed in Congress's "One Big Beautiful Bill," and governors around the country are already taking action on it. With an estimated potential total cost of over $50 billion, your state's public education system could be in immediate danger if your governor opts into this program. We need your help to fight to keep secular, high-quality public education safe today!

By opting into the program, third-party organizations (known as Scholarship Granting Organizations, or SGOs) would be allowed to grant scholarships to students using federally reimbursed donor funds. The vast majority of permissible funding purposes — tuition, fees, books, room and board and uniforms — only apply to students of private, often religious, institutions. Even worse comes the academic cost. Studies of voucher programs in three different states found that students attending private schools using vouchers performed worse academically than their public school counterparts. Additionally, 66 percent of private schools are religiously affiliated, and 77 percent of students enrolled in private schools attend one with a religious bent. In other words, by opting into the FSTC program, taxpayer dollars will be used to fund religious indoctrination while leaving the public school system — which educates 91 percent of children in America — with far less support.

Contrary to the claims of the program's backers, FSTC participation comes with immense costs, and public students deserve better than to be an afterthought to private religious schools. Please take this opportunity to contact your governor and tell them not to jeopardize public education! We have included suggested language that we encourage you to customize by clicking on the pencil icon. After sending an email, you will be directed to a phone prompt to call your governor as well. Even leaving a message shows your dedication to the cause, so please take the extra step if you can! For best results, please be succinct and polite.

https://ffrf.quorum.us/campaign/155137/

Christian Mom Kidnaps Daughter (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #613)

— A Christian mom who tried to ban LGBTQ books just got arrested for kidnapping her own daughter. (0:20)

— Will the Maine Supreme Court allow a mother to keep harming her daughter with religion? (20:10)

— Ohio appellate court lets makeshift church challenge local fire codes on religious grounds. (46:31)

— Four Christian pastors want their faith to override public safety concerns in a Colorado park. (1:05:05)

— Taxpayer dollars, Christian lies: What Alabama’s voucher program really buys. (1:15:41)

— Utah high school blasted for sermon-like video blaming “sin of laziness” for mental health struggles. (1:29:35)
Interview: 

https://friendlyatheistpodcast.com/2025/12/11/christian-mom-kidnaps-daughter/

How Florida lost track of 30,000 students, a ‘cautionary tale’ for vouchers - The Washington Post

But by the end of the 2024-25 school year, the program cost $398 million more than expected, according to a recently released report from Florida's auditor general… 

 On any given day, Florida's education department did not know where 30,000 students were going to school and could not account for the $270 million in taxpayer funds it took to support them, according to the state Senate Appropriations Committee on Pre-K-12 Education…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/12/08/florida-school-vouchers-audit/

 

Arizona's school voucher program fuels public school closures - The Washington Post

Supporters of school choice say families are turning to alternatives because public schools are not serving their children well. It's only right, they argue, that tax dollars follow children to whatever educational setting their families choose.

Critics complain that vouchers eat up state funding, benefit families who can afford private school on their own, disrupt communities and send tax dollars to schools that face little accountability. Unlike public schools, private schools don't have to administer state tests. They can pick and choose their students, while public schools must educate everyone...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/08/05/arizona-public-school-closures-voucher-program/

The Price to Make Jerry Falwell, Jr. Go Away (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #584)

– Good news! The Supreme Court deadlocked on allowed the first-ever taxpayer-funded religious charter school in Oklahoma. (0:20)

– Liberty University paid Jerry Falwell, Jr. $15 million to make him—and his lawsuits—disappear. (10:45)

– Trump admin drops $37.7M fine against Christian school that lied about tuition. (26:17)

– After a decade, a Florida city has finally given up defending an illegal prayer vigil. (36:50)

– Indicted megachurch pastor Robert Morris abused a kid. Now he’s suing for retirement pay. (53:13)

– Texas Senate passes bill to force Christian date labels (B.C. and A.D.) in public schools. (1:06:37)

– Appeals court: Southwest’s lawyers don’t have to go through right-wing “religious freedom” training. (1:14:35)
Interview: 

https://friendlyatheistpodcast.com/2025/05/22/the-price-to-make-jerry-falwell-jr-go-away/

Opponents raise alarm over school vouchers in GOP budget bill

"We oppose creating a $20 billion tax credit voucher scheme and allowing 529 accounts to be used for home schooling," Marc Egan, the director of government relations for the union, wrote in a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee…

https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5302600-school-vouchers-school-choice-gop-budget-bill/ 

 

Josh Cowen: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers | FFRF Convention 2024 - YouTube

Josh Cowen speaks out against school voucher programs, warning that they undermine public education and exacerbate inequality. He explains that vouchers were initially framed as "school choice" but have become a tool for advancing Christian nationalism and defunding public schools. Cowen argues that vouchers benefit private, often religious, schools at the expense of vulnerable students, and he advocates for investing in public education to ensure better outcomes for all students.

Josh Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University, is the author of the new book, "The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers." His popular writing on education politics, school choice and culture wars has appeared in daily newspapers, "The Hechinger Report," "The New Republic" and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIthoF-hlnM 

The Privateers (Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freethought Radio podcast)

After a roundup of state/church news around the country, we celebrate the birthday of Eric Idle, 82, (who calls himself an “old agnostic”) by listening to his irreverent song, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” from the movie “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.” 

Then, professor and author Josh Cowen tells us about his book The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.

Interview: 

https://ffrf.org/news/freethought-radio/freethought-today-march-27-2025/

What an Unregulated School Voucher Program Looks Like — ProPublica

 For instance, the state never informed parents who were new to Title of Liberty and were planning to spend their voucher money there that it had previously been a charter school called ARCHES Academy — which had had its charter revoked last school year due to severe financial issues. Nor that, as a charter, it had a record of dismal academic performance, with just 13% of its students proficient in English and 0% in math in 2023…

Yet just a month after the board's decision, ARCHES was re-creating itself as a renamed, newly religious private school, simply by pivoting to accept voucher dollars. In other words, it was closed down by a public governing body but found a way to keep existing and being funded by the public anyway, just without the standards and accountability that would normally come with taxpayer money… 

…Still, she said, it's "on you" to check the credentials and the criminal history of every private school founder and provider to whom you're considering paying your ESA dollars, because in Arizona, "anybody can start a private school, you have no idea." There are mostly "just rumors to rely on," she said. … 

"You're putting your kid in [a school], hoping it's going to work," Cross said. "If it closes midyear, you're kind of screwed."…

https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-private-school-vouchers-no-transparency

 

In Ohio, taxpayer dollars are being used to expand Christian schools

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABA1SDe8Lv8

Mom's for Liberty is trying to take over this school in Arizona

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6r5T9c6J-0

Maine churches continue legal fight to maintain taxpayer-funding bigotry...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJJOrf_P8Ls

Ohio Will Use Taxpayer Money to Construct Private Religious Schools — ProPublica

The state is giving millions in taxpayer dollars directly to private schools to help them renovate and expand their campuses. It may be the next frontier in the push to increase the use of school vouchers, proponents say...

https://www.propublica.org/article/ohio-taxpayer-money-funding-private-religious-schools

The Case Against School Vouchers (Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freethought Radio podcast)

FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliot and FFRF Legal Fellow Hirsh Joshi join us to talk about state-church developments in Utah, Alabama, Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee and Minnesota. 

Then, we speak with Michigan State University Professor Josh Cowen about his new book, The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.

Interview: 

https://ffrf.org/news/freethought-radio/freethought-today-september-12-2024/

How Billionaires Created a Culture War to Sell School Vouchers w/ Josh Cowen (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

In this episode, Brad Onishi interviews Dr. Joshua Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University, on the controversial issue of school vouchers in the US. 

They discuss the historical context of the voucher movement, tracing it back to economist Milton Friedman and its intersection with the Brown v. Board decision. The dialogue highlights the ideological motivations behind vouchers, linking them to conservative Christian nationalism and libertarian views on government regulation. 

Dr. Cowen offers a critical analysis of recent voucher programs in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C., presenting evidence of their negative effects on academic outcomes. The conversation also delves into the cultural and political forces driving the voucher agenda, especially during the Trump administration, emphasizing the shift from evidence-based arguments to ideological ones.

Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/how-billionaires-created-a-culture-war-to-sell-school-vouchers-w-josh-cowen/

James Talarico Debunks Greg Abbott’s Private School Voucher Slogans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUh9dpajb5s

The Scam of School Vouchers (with Nick Fish of American Atheists) (Seth Andrews; The Thinking Atheist podcast)

Supporters say they're about "choice," but school voucher programs are a weapon against education. Nick Fish, president of American Atheists, weighs in.

Interview: 

https://www.thethinkingatheist.com/podcast-1/episode/78d4688e/the-scam-of-school-vouchers-with-nick-fish-of-american-atheists