"The author examines the expansion of education vouchers and school choice policies in the United States, tracing their legal evolution and public policy impact. Following pivotal Supreme Court rulings such as Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002) and Carson v. Makin (2022), constitutional Establishment Clause protections separating church and State have diminished, enabling public taxpayer funds to subsidize private religious education. Using Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program as a primary illustrative case study, the paper demonstrates how targeted initiative programs originally designed for low-income families can rapidly expand into universal voucher systems accessible to all households regardless of wealth. Framing school choice within the historical perspectives of Horace Mann and John Dewey, an argument is presented that aggressive privatization undermines the common school ideal, reduces essential public school funding, and ultimately threatens democratic citizenship."
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