On Voucher Schools & Students

Stephanie Simon:

Ever since the administration filed suit to freeze Louisiana's school voucher program, high-ranking Republicans have pummeled President Barack Obama for trapping poor kids in failing public schools.

The entire House leadership sent a letter of protest. Majority Leader Eric Cantor blistered the president for denying poor kids "a way into a brighter future." And Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal accused him of "ripping low-income minority students out of good schools" that could "help them achieve their dreams."

But behind the outrage is an inconvenient truth: Taxpayers across the U.S. will soon be spending $1 billion a year to help families pay private school tuition -- and there's little evidence that the investment yields academic gains.

In Milwaukee, just 13 percent of voucher students scored proficient in math and 11 percent made the bar in reading this spring. That's worse on both counts than students in the city's public schools. In Cleveland, voucher students in most grades performed worse than their peers in public schools in math, though they did better in reading.

In New Orleans, voucher students who struggle academically haven't advanced to grade-level work any faster over the past two years than students in public schools, many of which are rated D or F, state data show.

Notes and links on Simon's Politico article here. Fascinating.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 8, 2013 12:25 AM
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