We have learned a few facts about state voucher programs since they have spread to about half the states. They have spread not because of popular demand but because of big money and campaign contributions. Every state referendum on vouchers has failed.

  1. Most vouchers are used to subsidize the private school tuition of students who never attended public schools.
  2. The students who transfer from public schools to private, mostly religious schools, usually do not have better academic performance; they often have dramatically worse academic performance than their public school peers.
  3. More money for vouchers means less money for public schools, where the overwhelming majority of students are enrolled.

In Missouri, a county judge upheld the state voucher program.

Jacob Richey of KOMU 8 reported:

A Cole County judge has thrown out a lawsuit that claimed the state of Missouri unlawfully funded its private school voucher program using taxpayer dollars.

The lawsuit, filed in July 2025 by two members of the Missouri National Education Association against the state of Missouri and several elected officials, alleged that the General Assembly unconstitutionally allocated $51 million to the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program fund. One of the elected officials listed was Gov. Mike Kehoe.

The General Assembly created the program, also called MOScholars, in 2021. The program awards tax credits to Missouri taxpayers who donate to organizations that award scholarships to families to help send their students to private schools.

Last year, the new state budget put over $50 million in taxpayer dollars toward the program in addition to the volunteer donations, which the plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued was an unconstitutional allocation of funding.

However, Cole County Judge Brian Stumpe disagreed, writing in his 57-page ruling that the court would have to find statutory prohibitions not written in state laws themselves in order to side with the plaintiffs.

“As both sides agree, nothing in the statutes governing the Missouri Scholars Program expressly proscribes appropriations made by the General Assembly,” Stumpe wrote in the ruling. “Plaintiffs thus assert that the statute’s structure does not permit appropriations by the legislature to fund scholarships — making the appropriation an improper amendment to the governing statutes. But for Plaintiffs to prevail, this Court would have to find statutory prohibitions not articulated in the statute’s text. This Court cannot do that.”

Stumpe ruled that the allocations made did not directly contradict the statutes that govern MOScholars, meaning the appropriations were constitutional.

Stumpe threw out all allegations made in the lawsuit and denied the plaintiffs request for an injunction. Stumpe dismissed the plaintiffs’ petition with prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs cannot refile the lawsuit.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway called the decision a “complete win” in a post on social media.

“This is a victory for parents and students across Missouri,” Hanaway wrote in the post. “MOScholars gives students the full freedom to attend a school that helps them achieve success.”