On Fri, 27 Feb 2004 16:14:32 -0800, Fitch R. Williams wrote:
Gary Coffman wrote:

Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, and
the District of Columbia all have, or are starting, pilot
voucher programs. Wisconsin's is the oldest, and
has had positive measurable results in terms of
improved test scores for Milwaukee children in the
program.

And where was the equivalent control group, with similar selection
criteria, taken from in the public system?

You have to be careful about looking at data about comparing schools.
Saying the voucher system works by saying some select few that would
have done well anyway, did better than the average of those left behind
isn't much of a case.

The district wide average performance on standardized tests improved.
Now that was because the group using vouchers did much better than
they were previously doing in public schools, while those remaining in
public schools did not improve. But that's not such a bad thing. At least
*some* kids are getting a better education, even if some remain virtually
unteachable.

What would be surprising, and damning to the voucher programs, is
if the kids transferring to private schools did less well than those who
remained behind in public schools. There is no indication that is the
case, however. District wide scores are up, so *somebody* is doing
better in school than they were before. School by school results show
that it is the students now in private schools who are doing better.

None of this should be very surprising. The students moving to the
private schools are the ones with motivated parents who have high
expectations for their children. Putting their kids in a less disruptive
and more focused learning environment than is provided by the
public schools was bound to produce better results.

What is new with the voucher program is that the benefits of
a private education are no longer limited to just the rich. Any
motivated parent can choose to have their kids participate.

Now none of this would be *necessary* if the public schools
were properly doing their job. But they aren't, and throwing
more and more money at them over the last 30 years hasn't
improved matters. In fact things appear to be getting worse.

Forty years ago when I attended public schools, there wasn't
the violence, drugs, disruptive behaviors, etc that plague today's
public schools. There weren't social promotion or "self esteem"
factors influencing who graduated and who didn't either. You
knuckled down, did the work, or you got held back or kicked out.

That's gone from the current public school systems. It doesn't
look like it will be coming back either. So the only alternative
for a concerned parent is to take their kids out of those social
sewers and put them in better schools. Vouchers let them do
that without putting undue strain on their family budgets.

It shouldn't *have* to be that way. Public school systems
once worked. But what made them work has been lost.
There are numerous reasons for that, many of them not
tractable to correction in the current social climate (ie it
wouldn't be politically correct). So other ways have to be
found to give the kids who want to learn a better chance.

Gary