Just in case you were starting to worry that the debate over school vouchers was getting serious, the back and forth that will follow the release of this Department of Ed study on the D.C. voucher program, should debase you of that. The study basically looks at one year of test score data (really seven months) but that hasn’t stopped people from decrying the program as a failure. Though I don’t lose much sleep over the DC program, I wouldn’t count myself as a supporter and think that over time it will be a failure unless the program is changed a lot to better serve kids and parents. It’s a microcosm for what’s wrong with voucher proposals policywise. But this study is neither here nor there on any of that, it’s just too soon to know. Big politics are whether Congress should reauthorize the program, that’ll be a lively debate, which this study will confuse. Full employment for advocates…Report coverage: NYT’s Dillon here, WaPo’s Paley here.
Education News, Analysis, and Commentary