Education News, Analysis, and Commentary
In a RealClearEducation op-ed Richard Whitmire and I take a look at D.C. as a microcosm for broader education trends in light of last week’s new charter data. A decade ago the debate about Washington D.C.’s public schools turned on school vouchers. How many students in the city’s beleaguered schools should get a lifeline out …
Not too surprisingly D.C. vouchers are back in action as part of the budget deal. They were included with a set of policy riders as part of the final deal. Two interesting dimensions to this. First the actual implementation. Running a school voucher program is harder than you might think because of issues around income …
Continue reading “Strawman Down! Plus The Anemic Fight Over DC Vouchers”
Education ideas are like neckties: Don’t toss them when they go out of style, they always come back in. Here’s my take on what we know after two decades of school voucher programs of various sizes around the country. Prospects in D.C.? By a relatively small margin the policy and political insiders we survey monthly …
This week’s School of Thought column at TIME again goes with the “5 myths” meme. This week I look at school vouchers, which are reemerging as an issue in many places and on Capitol Hill: One of the most contentious budget debates this year may be over something the president did not include in his …
Jay Greene finds paradise by the blogboard light with a somewhat slippery post wondering again how anyone could possibly think that charter schools are OK but vouchers are not for anything other than nakedly political reasons. The answer, I’d argue, isn’t that complicated and lies in the imprecision of words like “vouchers.” At their core vouchers are …
With the debate over the future of the D.C. school voucher program in full swing on the Hill, Secretary of Ed Arne Duncan puts himself squarely in the crossfire courtesy of the AP. Andy Smarick thinks there is less to this than it appears and he’s right (and besides, what Duncan said is hardly unreasonable). But, as soon …
A lot of debate today over the federal D.C. voucher program. Erin Dillon cuts to the punchline: Yesterday’s evaluation (pdf) offers something for everyone so the fight will continue regardless of the data.
Sunday’s WaPo had a three-way debate about D.C. vouchers featuring former Mayor Tony Williams, charter school founder James Forman, and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. At one level just superficial back and forth about the recent first year evaluation but some interesting nuggets that are illustrative of the debate today. Forman busts voucher proponents for …
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 …
Continue reading “DC Vouchers…In The Land Of The Blind…A One Year Report Is King!”
Eduwonk’s colleague New Donkey and Washington Monthly’s Kevin Drum are already all over the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel series on the school voucher program in Milwaukee. Articles here and here and don’t miss the sidebars. (The Wash. Post also has a front-page story today about the voucher program in D.C.) Milwaukee is enormously important to the voucher …
Continue reading “MJS On Vouchers…The Stalking Horse For Charters?”