FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Indiana’s school voucher program, which helps students living in a public school district attend private schools, is a “fraud and a scam,” according to the president of the Fort Wayne Community Schools board.

Mark GiaQuinta told the Journal Gazette he stands by those words, which he directed to the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, in response to a report from the foundation that promoted the voucher program, saying the program lets students get a “religious education at taxpayer expense.”

The Foundation says the program is only used to help kids leave failing “traditional” schools, but FWCS officials say their district, which got an “A” grade from the state lost three times more students to the program than districts getting a “D” grade.

The paper reports that Board member Julie Hollingsworth also weighed in, saying the foundation didn’t know enough about the district to claim they’re not being “innovative.”