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Photo of Gov. Maura Healey (D), courtesy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Letter: Trump’s Vouchers Undermine Public Schools In Massachusetts

“This program would siphon federal resources away from our public schools into a private scholarship mechanism without direct oversight by elected officials.”
While Republicans are fleeing Trump’s failed policies, Governor Maura Healey is on the precipice of embracing one of his most destructive initiatives: vouchers. The voucher program is a component of Trump’s Big Bad Bill.  I’m writing with urgency to ask that Gov. Healy publicly and definitively opt Massachusetts out of the new federal voucher program before the December 31 deadline. This program would siphon federal resources away from our public schools into a private scholarship mechanism without direct oversight by elected officials. It would also channel public dollars to private schools that can exclude or discourage students with disabilities, English learners, and low‑income children, and many recipient institutions may be religiously affiliated, raising serious equity and civil rights concerns.
Massachusetts leads the nation because we invest in strong, accountable public schools that serve every child. Embracing vouchers would undermine that foundation and set a harmful precedent. Please act now, and urge Gov. Healey to make a clear public commitment to decline participation and keep our focus on strengthening public education for all students.
Thank you for your swift attention to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Tom Meyers
57 Cox Lane
Methuen, MA 01844
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Picture of TOM MEYERS

TOM MEYERS

My professional experience includes 38 years of teaching, primarily in the Social Studies Department at Andover High School. In addition, I have taught in various diverse socio-economic and cultural setting including: Crazy Horse High School and Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation; two summers at Phillips Academy, in Andover, Ma; Colegio Mira Flores - High School, in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico; Adult Education classes at the Lawrence County Jail; and, English language courses to recent immigrant students in Lawrence. I also taught the following courses to teachers through the Andover School System’s Staff Development Program: American Indian Literature, The Economic Ideas of Marx, Smith, and Keynes, Media and Society, The Purpose of Teacher Unions, and The Genealogy of Morals - Frederick Nietzsche. In addition to the above, I was President of the Andover Education Association, the [educator’s union], for 21 years. During my tenure, we doubled the size of our union by adding instructional assistants, secretaries, Nurses, LPNs, and RNs. Immediately after college, I spent five years doing social work on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Furthermore, I have been the recipient of the following fellowships: National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow - The Works of Adam Smith, 1993; University of Northern Iowa Fellowship, 1986; International Rotary Association Fellowship, 1986, to study the Political Economy of the Philippines. I was able to travel extensively throughout that nation, and I attended teacher union conferences and worked with peasant organizations in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras during the 1980s. I am currently retired from teaching and now working part-time for the Massachusetts Teachers’ Association. Personally, I am married to a teacher, my daughter is a clinical psychologist, and my son is a college professor.
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