Every morning, I unlock the doors to my choir room at Les Bois Junior High School. By 7:50 a.m., the room is buzzing with the energy of seventh and eighth graders warming up their voices, singing their favorite songs, and sometimes giggling their way through tricky rhythms.

For me, music class is about far more than reading notes. It’s about confidence, teamwork, and joy in learning. I know the power of Idaho’s public schools because I was once a Les Bois Blazer myself. Like so many students, I had teachers who believed in me before I believed in myself. Public schools gave me opportunity — and the conviction that every child deserves the same chance.

That’s why I am deeply concerned about Idaho’s new voucher law. It’s why I joined fellow Idaho Education Association members in supporting the lawsuit recently filed with the Idaho Supreme Court asking the justices to rule the law unconstitutional.

The law, created through House Bill 93, sets aside $50 million in taxpayer dollars for private school vouchers. Proponents call them “tax credits,” but the effect is the same: siphoning public money away from the 95% of Idaho students who attend public schools. That directly undermines our Constitution’s promise of a “general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”

Vouchers create an uneven playing field. Unlike public schools, private schools can turn students away because of disability, religion, or simply because a child isn’t the right “fit.” They don’t have to hire certified educators or meet accountability standards. Yet they would now benefit from public dollars with little oversight.

Meanwhile, my colleagues and I stretch every dollar to serve every student who walks through our doors. We write grants, buy supplies out of our own pockets, run after-school programs on our own time, and work tirelessly to meet diverse needs. We don’t get to turn kids away. We don’t want to.

When lawmakers funnel millions into an unregulated system, they send a dangerous message: that our kids don’t matter as much. Public schools are more than classrooms — they are communities where children of every background sit side by side and learn not only algebra and music theory, but also empathy, cooperation, and resilience. That is something no private system can replicate.

My students sing in harmony because they’ve learned every voice matters. Idaho’s voucher law drowns out 95% of children’s voices by telling families with fewer resources that they’re on their own. Idaho doesn’t need two education systems — one publicly accountable, one privately subsidized. We need to strengthen the system we already have, the system our Constitution requires us to protect.

Idaho’s public schools work. They work when we invest in them, believe in them, and give every child the chance to thrive — just as they did for me. Long ago, Idahoans promised to fund a future for our kids through public education.

Let’s not break that promise now.

Cassie Horner is in her 14th year teaching music at Les Bois Junior High School in the Boise School District.