donor education school-choice privatization dark-money devos vouchers esa lobbying religious-schools alec
related: The DeVos to McMahon Pipeline - Public Schools as Private Profit DeVos Family Koch Network - Charles Koch Heritage Foundation
Who They Are
The American Federation for Children is the school privatization movement’s most effective political weapon — a 501(c)(4) dark money organization founded by Betsy DeVos that has spent tens of millions of dollars electing state legislators who vote for voucher programs, defeating those who don’t, and drafting the model legislation they introduce. Since 2022, AFC and its allies have won 75% of targeted races and helped pass universal or near-universal voucher programs in at least 15 states, redirecting an estimated $4 billion in public education funding to private schools — nearly 70% of which are religious institutions.
Founded in 1998 as the American Education Reform Foundation (Milwaukee), the organization was renamed Advocates for School Choice in 2004 and became the American Federation for Children in 2009 under DeVos’s restructuring. It operates as a 501(c)(4) — meaning it does not disclose donors — alongside the AFC Growth Fund (501(c)(3) educational arm) and the AFC Victory Fund (super PAC for direct electoral spending). Current CEO: Tommy Schultz. The organization is headquartered in Dallas and Columbia, MD.
AFC’s political innovation is targeting Republican primaries. When Republican state legislators oppose vouchers — often because rural districts fear losing students and funding to distant private schools — AFC funds primary challengers. In the 2024 Texas primaries, AFC Victory Fund spent $4+ million targeting 15 Republican incumbents who had voted against Governor Abbott’s voucher legislation. The message to Republican legislators nationally: vote for school choice or face a funded primary challenger. It’s the NRA scorecard model applied to education policy.
What They Want
Universal voucher/ESA programs in all 50 states: AFC’s long-term objective is universal school choice — taxpayer-funded accounts that parents can use for private school tuition, homeschooling, tutoring, and other education expenses. As of 2025, 15 states have universal or near-universal programs. AFC’s 2025-2026 target list includes the remaining 35.
Education Savings Accounts over traditional vouchers: AFC has shifted from promoting traditional vouchers (which pay tuition directly) to ESAs (which deposit public funds into family-controlled accounts for any approved education expense). ESAs are harder for opponents to attack because they offer “flexibility” — but they also create a permanent revenue stream flowing from public education budgets to private entities with minimal accountability.
Federal school choice legislation: The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), signed by Trump on July 4, 2025, creates a federal tax credit scholarship program through Scholarship Granting Organizations. AFC endorsed the bill. The Title I portability guidance (March 2025) further encourages states to redirect federal education funding to private schools.
Elimination of the Department of Education: Both DeVos and McMahon have publicly stated the Department of Education “should not exist.” AFC’s endgame isn’t reform — it’s structural dissolution of the federal education infrastructure that enforces accountability standards on schools receiving public funds.
Who Funds Them
AFC is a 501(c)(4) dark money organization — it does not disclose its donors. Known funders have been identified through Super PAC filings, investigative reporting, and foundation tax returns:
| Date | Event | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-01-01 | Walton Family Foundation grants funds to AFC Growth Fund | $6M | SourceWatch |
| 2021-01-01 | Jeff Yass begins major funding of AFC Victory Fund (school choice PAC) | $7M+ | OpenSecrets |
| 2021-01-01 | Koch Network channels “countless millions” to various AFC entities | (millions) | SourceWatch |
| 2024-01-01 | Betsy & Dick DeVos contribute $2.25M to national AFC Victory Fund | $2.25M | NBC News |
| 2024-01-01 | Betsy & Dick DeVos contribute $250K to Texas AFC PAC operations | $250K | NBC News |
| 2024-01-01 | Vahan Gureghian contributes to AFC Action Fund | $100K | SourceWatch |
| 2024-01-01 | Jim Walton contributes to Arizona AFC operations | $100K | Reporting |
Jeff Yass — the Pennsylvania billionaire who has spent $23+ million on federal school privatization PACs since 2021 — is now AFC’s second-largest identified financial backer after the DeVos family. The convergence of DeVos (education ideology), Yass (libertarian finance), Koch (deregulation infrastructure), and Walton (charter school empire) represents the school privatization movement’s funding coalition.
Money
AFC Victory Fund raised $10.6 million as of early 2024 — $7 million from Jeff Yass alone. The return: universal voucher programs in 15 states redirecting an estimated $4 billion per year from public schools to private institutions. In the 2022 cycle, AFC-backed candidates won 277 of 368 races (75% win rate) and defeated 40 incumbents. In Texas 2024, AFC spent $4+ million targeting 15 Republican incumbents who opposed vouchers. The cost per converted state legislator is a fraction of the annual funding redirected from public schools.
What They’ve Gotten
The State-by-State Rollout
AFC’s post-2021 victories represent the most rapid expansion of public-to-private education funding transfer in American history:
| Date | Event | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-06-01 | West Virginia passes Hope Scholarship ESA (~$4,488/child, 90%+ eligible) | — | NCSL |
| 2022-06-01 | Arizona passes universal ESA (largest in US history; 96% religious enrollment) | — | ProPublica |
| 2023-01-01 | Utah passes Fits All Scholarship (~$8,000/student, all eligible) | — | NCSL |
| 2023-01-01 | Iowa passes Students First Act ($7,635 per pupil; 98% religious schools) | — | NCSL |
| 2023-06-01 | Florida expands HB 1 vouchers (~$8,000/voucher; 220,974 enrolled 2024-25; 82% religious) | — | Education Week |
| 2023-06-01 | Indiana expands near-universally (up to $220K income; 70,095 students; $439M cost) | $439M | NCSL |
| 2023-03-01 | Arkansas passes LEARNS Act (~$6,600/student, phasing universal) | — | NCSL |
| 2025-03-01 | Alabama passes CHOOSE Act (new ESA program) | — | News |
| 2025-06-01 | Texas passes Education Freedom Accounts (new ESA program) | — | News |
| 2025-12-31 | Cumulative: 15 states with universal/near-universal programs; 569,000+ students; ~$4B/year redirected | $4B/year | ProPublica |
The Academic Performance Problem
AFC’s legislative victories have outpaced academic evidence — because the evidence consistently shows voucher students perform worse:
| Date | Event | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-01-01 | Indiana study published: significant math losses 4 years after voucher switch | — | PMC/peer-reviewed |
| 2023-01-01 | Ohio analysis: significant negative effects on math and reading in voucher programs | — | EPI |
| 2023-01-01 | Louisiana analysis: significant math and reading losses in year 1; persist long-term | — | EPI |
| 2023-01-01 | Washington D.C. study: math scores 0.12 SD lower (50th percentile drops to 45th) | — | EPI |
| 2023-01-01 | Brookings synthesis: recent rigorous studies “consistently show voucher students perform worse” | — | Brookings |
Contradiction
AFC’s stated mission is “empowering families with educational options.” The academic evidence from Indiana, Ohio, Louisiana, and D.C. consistently shows that students who use vouchers to switch from public to private schools perform worse on standardized tests — particularly in math. AFC has passed universal voucher programs in 15 states covering 569,000+ students while the research base for the policy they’re implementing shows negative academic outcomes. The policy is advancing faster than the evidence because the policy isn’t driven by evidence. It’s driven by donor ideology and political spending.
The Public School Funding Drain
The Economic Policy Institute documented the fiscal impact: six of seven states with long-standing voucher programs reduced or froze per-student public education investment (inflation-adjusted), with declines ranging from -1.5% (Indiana) to -12% (Florida). Over the same period, states without voucher programs saw an average 10.7% increase in per-student funding nationally.
The mechanism: when students leave public schools for private schools via vouchers, the state redirects per-pupil funding. But public schools’ fixed costs (buildings, administration, transportation, heating) don’t decrease proportionally. A Cleveland analysis found that a 5% enrollment decline costs the district $364-$927 per remaining student — $12-$31 million annually.
The Federal Achievement — ECCA
The Educational Choice for Children Act, signed July 4, 2025, represents AFC’s first federal legislative victory: a tax credit scholarship program that creates a permanent federal incentive structure for private school funding. Combined with McMahon’s $500 million charter school funding increase (including $60 million in new grants) and Title I portability guidance, the federal education infrastructure is now actively promoting the transfer of public education funding to private entities.
The Ballot Box Rejection
The critical counter-pattern: voters reject vouchers every time they decide directly.
| Date | Event | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-11-05 | Kentucky constitutional amendment (school choice) rejected by voters | 60%+ margin | Election results |
| 2024-11-05 | Kentucky lost in every county (60%+ statewide rejection) | — | Election results |
| 2024-11-05 | Nebraska voters repeal tax credit scholarship program | Majority vote | Election results |
| 2024-11-05 | Colorado “Right to school choice” amendment fails (48% yes, needed 55%) | 48% yes | Election results |
| 1970-2024 | Voters reject voucher creation/expansion in every ballot initiative nationwide | — | Ballotpedia |
This is the same pattern documented in the DeVos Family profile: voucher programs win only through legislatures where AFC campaign spending creates leverage. They lose every public vote. The policy doesn’t have democratic support. It has donor support. AFC’s strategy bypasses democratic ratification by targeting the legislators rather than the electorate.
Class Analysis
The American Federation for Children represents the school privatization movement’s transformation from policy advocacy to political machine — an organization that doesn’t just promote school choice but manufactures the legislative majorities that enact it.
Dark money as legislative factory. AFC’s 501(c)(4) status means the public never sees who funds the organization that funds the candidates who vote for the laws that redirect billions in public education money to private institutions. Jeff Yass gives $7 million. The DeVos family gives millions more. The Koch network provides infrastructure. Walton provides foundation grants. None of these donors appear on AFC’s public filings. The legislators they elect vote for programs that redirect $4 billion annually — and voters in the districts those legislators represent have rejected vouchers every time they’ve been asked directly.
The primary threat as legislative tool. AFC’s most effective weapon isn’t lobbying — it’s the primary challenge. Republican legislators in rural districts know that voucher programs drain their schools. They vote against vouchers. AFC funds primary challengers. The message is structural: oppose school choice and face a funded opponent. In Texas, AFC spent $4+ million targeting 15 Republican incumbents in a single primary cycle. The result: legislators who might otherwise vote their district’s interest vote AFC’s donor interest instead.
Religious school funding as structural objective. Across states with universal voucher programs, 70-96% of voucher recipients attend religious schools. In Iowa, 98% of private school enrollment is in religious institutions. The Espinoza (2020) and Carson v. Makin (2022) Supreme Court decisions eliminated the constitutional barriers. AFC’s ESA programs create the funding mechanism. The practical effect: billions of public dollars flowing to religious institutions that face no public accountability standards, teach curricula of their choosing, and can discriminate in admissions. This isn’t a side effect. It’s the structural outcome the donor coalition was built to achieve.
Academic evidence as irrelevance. Rigorous studies from Indiana, Ohio, Louisiana, and D.C. consistently show that voucher students perform worse than their public school peers, particularly in math. AFC has passed universal programs in 15 states covering 569,000+ students while the evidence base shows negative outcomes. The disconnect reveals what the movement is actually optimizing for: it’s not student achievement. It’s funding redirection. The academic evidence is irrelevant to donors whose motivation is ideological (DeVos: religious education), financial (Yass: libertarian anti-government), or structural (Koch: dismantling public institutions).
Pattern: Genuine Win + Structural Limit. AFC’s programs genuinely expand options for some families — particularly families who would have chosen private school anyway and now receive a taxpayer subsidy. But the structural limit is the same one the ballot box reveals: when voters decide, they choose public schools. The policy survives only where donor money controls the legislature. The “choice” in school choice is exercised by donors choosing legislators, not by the democratic public choosing policy.
Sources
- OpenSecrets: American Federation for Children Profile (Tier 1)
- OpenSecrets: School Choice Group Spends Millions to Oust Recalcitrant Republicans (Tier 1)
- OpenSecrets: School Choice Super PAC Targets Texas GOP Incumbents (Tier 1)
- Congress.gov: Educational Choice for Children Act (S.292) (Tier 1)
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: AFC Growth Fund (990) (Tier 1)
- US Dept. of Education: Title I School Choice Guidance (March 2025) (Tier 1)
- US Dept. of Education: Charter Schools Program $500M Funding (Tier 1)
- NCSL: Education Savings Accounts State Policy Scan (Tier 1)
- Economic Policy Institute: Vouchers Harm Public Schools (Tier 2)
- EPI: School Vouchers Are Not a Proven Strategy (Tier 2)
- Brookings: More Findings About School Vouchers — Still Negative (Tier 2)
- ProPublica: School Vouchers and the 2024 Election (Tier 2)
- ProPublica: Arizona Vouchers Budget Meltdown (Tier 2)
- NBC News: Betsy DeVos Put Millions Behind School Choice Candidates (Tier 2)
- WHYY: Jeff Yass Single-Handedly Keeping School Choice PACs Flush (Tier 2)
- CBPP: State Policymakers Should Reject School Voucher Plans (Tier 2)
- Washington Post: High court opens the door to more public funding of religious schools (Tier 2)
- SourceWatch: American Federation for Children (Tier 3)
- Ballotpedia: American Federation for Children (Tier 3)
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