Sanders Blasts Trump and His Billionaire Allies for Pushing ‘Two-Tier Education System’ That Harms Students

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday released a report blasting what he described as President Donald Trump and his billionaire allies' plan to create "a two-tier education system in America."

The new report from Sanders (I-Vt.) focuses on the nationwide private school voucher program included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Republicans last year. The report estimates the program could cost taxpayers up to $51 billion per year.

To put this total spending on vouchers into perspective, the report notes that it "is more than current federal spending on Title I-A to support students from low-income backgrounds ($18.4 billion) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) state grant program ($14.6 billion) to provide services to students with disabilities, combined."

In addition to potentially being a costly boondoggle, the report argues that the voucher program as it currently exists is likely to further widen inequality in the US.

"Without federal requirements or oversight, private schools can pick and choose which students to serve and turn away the highest need students to already under-resourced public schools, fueling a two-tiered education system," the report warns.

One major issue identified by the report is the high cost of tuition at many private schools that cannot be paid by many low-income families even with the assistance of vouchers. Unless this changes, the report finds "the vouchers could effectively function as a subsidy to the rich who can already afford to pay for private education."

Another reason the program is likely to widen inequality, the report says, is because of private schools' treatment of students with disabilities.

"Private schools systemically deny admission to students with disabilities outright, limit how many students with disabilities they serve, only serve children with certain types of disabilities, or charge extra tuition," notes the report. "Nearly half of analyzed private schools (48%) explicitly state that they choose not to provide some or all students with disabilities with the services, protections, and rights provided to those students in public schools under federal law."

Finally, the report raises questions about the quality of education students participating in the program will receive since "private schools often lack basic credentialing, accountability and transparency requirements related to ensuring students receive a quality education."

Commenting on the report, Sanders described the voucher program as yet another way that the wealthiest Americans are enriching themselves at US taxpayer expense.

"President Trump and his billionaire campaign contributors have been working overtime to create a two-tier education system in America," Sanders said, "private schools for the wealthy and well-connected and severely underfunded public schools for low-income and working-class students. That is unacceptable."

Sanders emphasized that "vouchers are being used to benefit private schools that reject students because they have a disability or because of their religion and benefit some of the wealthiest families in America," adding that the Trump program "will only make a bad situation even worse."