The teachers unions know best

[thundley4]

Saving Milwaukee’s Best
By the Editors

Milwaukee is home to America’s most vibrant school-choice program: More than 20,000 students participate, almost all of them minorities. They have made academic gains and boast higher graduation rates than their peers in public schools. They even save money for taxpayers. Inevitably, Democrats in the state capital are trying to eviscerate the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.

They’ve wanted to gut school choice for years, at the behest of teacher-union patrons who believe education should be a government monopoly. Until recently, Republicans have stood in the way. That changed following last year’s elections. Now, for the first time since the advent of school choice in Milwaukee two decades ago, Madison is a one-party capital. The governor, Jim Doyle, is a Democrat. Members of his party control both the state assembly and the state senate. School choice is in their crosshairs.

Last week, the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee approved a series of auditing, accrediting, and instructional requirements that will force successful voucher schools to shift resources away from classrooms and into administration. Several schools will have to comply with new bilingual-education mandates, even though many immigrant parents choose those schools precisely because they emphasize the rapid acquisition of English instead of native-language maintenance.

Lawmakers also propose to strip funding for school choice. With the value of each voucher reduced, private schools will see their payments fall. Meanwhile, public schools will watch their budgets increase by hundreds of dollars per student. This is on top of what is already a startling financial asymmetry: Taxpayers currently hand over $13,468 per student to Milwaukee Public Schools, compared to just $6,607 per student in the school-choice program. In 2008 alone, school choice saved the public almost $32 million, according to Robert M. Costrel of the University of Arkansas. Since 1994, the figure is $180 million. The savings would be even larger if more students used vouchers.

At the National Press Club last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that he opposed school choice: “Let me explain why. Vouchers usually serve 1 to 2 percent of the children in a community.  . . .  But I don’t want to save 1 or 2 percent of children and let 98, 99 percent down.” It was a bizarre statement: Why not simply let more than 1 or 2 percent enjoy the benefits of school choice? In Milwaukee, they actually do. It’s the largest urban school-choice program in the country, dwarfing the size of the one in Washington, D.C., whose de-funding by congressional Democrats has drawn so much criticism. Roughly one in five of Milwaukee’s school-age children receive vouchers. All of them must fall below an income threshold. Researchers say that the program is beginning to show systemic effects. In other words, it doesn’t merely help its participants. It also gives a lift to non-voucher students because the pressure of competition has forced public schools to improve.

Sometimes onerous regulations are at least well-intentioned blunders. Not these. The enemies of school choice in Madison know exactly what they’re doing. In the name of “accountability,” they attack the quality of voucher schools with deadly precision. The goal is to make them as mediocre as the public schools they routinely outperform — and to leave parents, once again, without a choice.

  NRO

I am getting so sick and tired of DimRats putting political loyalty ahead of the interests of doing what is best for children. 

[Eupher]

It's all about power.

Empowering parents with choice distorts and dilutes school boards' power.

Can't have that. We know what's best for you and your kids. [/dem mode]

[5412]

  NRO

I am getting so sick and tired of DimRats putting political loyalty ahead of the interests of doing what is best for children. 

Hi Thundley,

You are right on.  Several years ago, when my youngest was still in high school we had her enrolled in a private school in Ft. Myers.  Our neighbor boy, who I will name Tom for the sake of illustration, was not doing well at all and finally, due to his grades, had to drop out and go to public school.  The following fall I noticed Tom's name on the honor roll and when I saw him I congratulated him.  His comments were revealing.

He said, "Mr. Miller, my study habits have not changed one bit.  In public school they grade on a curve.  All I have to do is show up and stay awake in class and I will make the honor roll."  He basically said that the school was full of minorities who could care less about school, had no parental guidance whatsoever and, because of the school system and the way they grade most will pass and move on.  At that time we were unhappy with the quality of education our daughter was getting in the PRIVATE school.  Believe it or not, she wanted to move, which is something for a teen ager.

We ended up in the top school district in TX and she had been in accelerated classes in FL and they put her in the regular classes in TX and she was two weeks behind in each and every class.  She had to drop Spanish and take it the next semester because she could not catch up.  Indeed it was a great school because the parents were very active and on top of things.  She got a great education, over 95% of the kids went on to college and have done well.

Part of the reason for that is TX laws.  They had passed a law that basically said racial busing was not working and their solution was simple.  They were either going to combine the wealthier school districts with the poor ones, and your kids could get on a bus at 5AM and be bussed into the ghetto.....or the wealthy school districts could pay higher taxes with that money going to the poorer school districts.  Does not take a genius to figure out how that vote went.....  We had three 20% property tax increases in a row.  When she graduated, we moved out of TX because it was just getting too expensive. 

The fallacy in the whole thing was sending more money into the poorer school districts did NOTHING to improve the quality of education.  It did fatten up the teacher's union which probably was the goal.

regards,
5412

[Crazy Horse]

Better grades, larger graduation numbers, cheaper cost per student............................yep must squish this