But opponents say that when a student leaves a public school for a private one, the public school no longer receives per-pupil funding for that student, even as its fixed costs ― like building infrastructure ― remain the same. Private schools that participate in existing school choice programs ― including vouchers ― aren’t subject to the same accountability or transparency rules as public schools, and a vast majority of them are religious. At least 14 percent of religious schools that currently participate in private school choice programs openly discriminate against LGBTQ students, according to a HuffPost investigation. DeVos has previously unsuccessfully proposed injecting federal money into private school choice programs in the Department of Education budget. “The American people elected Donald Trump in part because he pledged to bring school choice to America’s students,” DeVos said.

Source: Huffington Post February 28, 2019 18:18 UTC