ICYMI: Kelly Pens Wall Street Journal Letter to the Editor Defending Public Schools, Pushing Back on Voucher Programs

"Every kid deserves the chance to chase their dream too, and that starts with good public schools."

This week, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) published a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal pushing back on the paper's editorial board defense of large-scale voucher programs, arguing they drain resources from public schools and subsidize families who were already paying for private education.

Click here to read the full letter. See key excerpts below:

On why he knows the importance of public schools firsthand:

I'm the son of two cops. I went to public schools from kindergarten through the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. That system gave me a shot, and every kid deserves the same, no matter where they grow up.

On what Arizona's own voucher program actually costs:

Arizona's universal voucher program now costs about $1 billion a year and is growing. In your editorial, you note that's only 8% of the state's education budget, but that billion dollars is forcing real tradeoffs in the state budget, like cuts to community colleges and water infrastructure in a state facing a severe drought. Meanwhile, more than half of voucher recipients were already being privately educated. That means in Arizona hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are going to subsidize private tuition for families who were already paying for it.

On who really benefits from the federal education tax credit:

With these education tax credits, the cost could reach as high as $50 billion in lost revenue in a single year. That adds to the federal deficit and will likely largely benefit wealthier Americans' taxes because the credit is nonrefundable.

On the downward spiral vouchers create for public schools:

When students leave, funding drops. Schools cut programs and staff, sometimes creating a downward spiral. It's happening in Arizona now. Then what "choice" does a parent have when their local school closes?

On what we should be aiming for:

I refuse to accept that in the richest country in the history of the world, only a small percentage of our kids get a good education. We should aim higher.