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Item(s) found: 112
Relocating Poor Families to More-Affluent Neighborhoods Doesn’t Necessarily Lead to Improved Student Achievement
Date CapturedTuesday August 14 2007, 10:21 AM
A randomized evaluation of the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) program--a federal housing program piloted in five major U.S. cities that sought to relocate poor families by providing housing vouchers--shows that, contrary to expectations, moving families out of high-poverty neighborhoods has no overall positive impact on children’s learning. Using data on more than 5,000 children between the ages of 6 and 20, researchers Lisa Sanbonmatsu, Jeffrey Kling, Greg Duncan, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn compared the educational outcomes of children whose families were offered housing vouchers through a lottery with those of children in families who entered the lottery but were not offered vouchers. During the first four years of the program, more than 4,000 families applied for the housing vouchers in the five pilot cities--Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.
Neighborhoods' Effect On Grades Challenged -- Moving Students Out of Poor Inner Cities Yields Little, Studies of HUD Vouchers Say
Date CapturedTuesday August 14 2007, 9:54 AM
Washington Post Jay Mathews reports, "Researchers examining what happened to 4,248 families that were randomly given or denied federal housing vouchers to move out of their high-poverty neighborhoods found no significant difference about seven years later between the achievement of children who moved to more middle-class neighborhoods and those who didn't. Although some children had more stable lives and better academic results after the moves, the researchers said, on average there was no improvement. Boys and brighter students appeared to have more behavioral problems in their new schools, the studies found."
Vouchers Could Desegregate Schools Better Than Buses
Date CapturedSaturday July 21 2007, 7:11 AM
Herbert J. Walberg, fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and chairman of The Heartland Institute's board writes, "In late 2006, Gregg Forster reviewed seven valid research studies of voucher programs in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C., and concluded that each one showed that voucher-participating private schools were less racially segregated than public schools. Claims that vouchers would disadvantage poor and minority children, or children with special educational needs, or lead to greater segregation, are unsupported by the research on existing voucher programs. All the research instead points to the overwhelmingly positive effects."
Suburbs need not fear school vouchers
Date CapturedSunday July 08 2007, 9:10 PM
Christian Science Monitor contributor Walt Gardner, former teacher and lecturer opines, "Emboldened by their ability to prevail in the courts, suburbanites aren't likely to relinquish their hold on maintaining local schools for themselves. They've worked too hard and too long to establish residency in communities where existing schools have garnered well-deserved reputations for educational quality. After all, they have as much of a right for their children to benefit from top-flight schools as parents from the inner cities do for their children."
Evaluation of D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After One Year
Date CapturedFriday June 22 2007, 8:56 AM
The report studies five key outcomes of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: school differences; academic achievement; parental perceptions of school satisfaction and safety; student reports of school satisfaction and safety; and the impact of using a scholarship. The analysis estimates the effects of the program approximately seven months after the start of the students' first school year in the program and finds no statistically significant difference in test scores overall between students who were offered a scholarship and students who were not offered a scholarship. Wolf, Patrick, Babette Gutmann, Michael Puma, Lou Rizzo, Nada Eissa, and Marsha Silverberg. Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After One Year. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2007.
Voucher Use in Washington Wins Praise of Parents
Date CapturedFriday June 22 2007, 8:53 AM
NY Times reports, "Students who participated in the first year of the District of Columbia’s federally financed school voucher program did not show significantly higher math or reading achievement, but their parents were satisfied anyway, viewing the private schools they attended at taxpayer expense as safer and better than public schools, according to an Education Department study released yesterday. "
Foster Care Children Need Better Educational Opportunities
Date CapturedTuesday June 05 2007, 3:33 PM
Dan Lips, Education Analyst in the Domestic Policy Studies Department at The Heritage Foundation writes, "Federal, state, and local policymakers should amend existing programs to improve education options for foster children. As policymakers design these reforms, they should consider four important principles. *New education options for foster children should be structured to address potential legal and constitutional questions. *Opportunity scholarship programs should be structured to ensure that they do not cre­ate adverse incentives for placement and adoption. *Scholarship programs should be designed to address non-tuition costs and considerations arising from school choice. *Policymakers should consult with people and organizations in the foster care community when designing their initiatives to ensure that policies best meet foster children's needs."
SCHOOL CHOICE BY THE NUMBERS: THE FISCAL EFFECT OF SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAMS, 1990-2006
Date CapturedMonday May 21 2007, 7:54 AM
Prepared by Susan L. Aud, PhD, SeniorFellow, Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, "Key findings include: School choice programs have saved a total of about $444 million from 1990 to 2006, including a total of $22 million saved in state budgets and $422 million saved in local public school districts. Every existing school choice program is at least fiscally neutral, and most produce a substantial savings. Only Utah’s Carson Smith voucher program and the two century-old 'town tuitioning' programs in Maine and Vermont are neutral; every other school choice program has produced at least $1 million in savings. In nearly every school choice program, the dollar value of the voucher or scholarship is less than or equal to the state’s formula spending per student. This means states are spending the same amount or less on students in school choice programs than they would have spent on the same students if they had attended public schools, producing a fiscal savings."
Billionaires Start $60 Million Schools Effort
Date CapturedWednesday April 25 2007, 10:10 AM
NY Times DAVID M. HERSZENHORN reports, "The project will not endorse candidates — indeed, it is illegal to do so as a charitable group — but will instead focus on three main areas: a call for stronger, more consistent curriculum standards nationwide; lengthening the school day and year; and improving teacher quality through merit pay and other measures. While the effort is shying away from some of the most polarizing topics in education, like vouchers, charter schools and racial integration, there is still room for it to spark vigorous debate. Advocating merit pay to reward high-quality teaching could force Democratic candidates to take a stand typically opposed by the teachers unions who are their strong supporters. Pushing for stronger, more uniform standards, on the other hand, could force Republican candidates to discuss the potential merits of a national curriculum, a concept advocates for states’ rights deeply oppose and one that President Bush has not embraced."
Catholic schools need more than our prayers
Date CapturedThursday April 12 2007, 9:00 AM
NY Daily News guest contributor Peter Meyer, contributing editor at Education Next and author of a new report in that journal, titled "Can Catholic Schools Be Saved?" opines, "This is not a sectarian fight, nor should it be. The era of choice in public schools has opened the way for daring reform in the public school system - and the most daring and successful of these new schools look remarkably like Catholic schools of old: they are focused and mission-driven. Parents deserve a choice in the school their children attend. It is in the educational interests of our children not only to allow that competition to take place, but to encourage it."
New York State Catholic Conference criticizes state budget decisions
Date CapturedWednesday April 04 2007, 3:01 PM
Catholic News Service reports, "Barnes [Catholic conference executive director] blamed Silver and the state's powerful teachers' unions for the exclusion of the tuition tax deduction from the education portion of the state's $121 billion budget, despite strong support for the credit by the Senate and Gov. Eliot Spitzer. He said New York is ranked second in the nation 'and soon likely to be first' in its per-student cost of more than $15,000 a year for public education, but has 'graduation rates that are a scandalous 48th.' Yet Silver, he said, 'could not see fit to give parents of children in independent and religious schools, who save the state $7.5 billion every single year, a deduction that amounts to about $68 per child.'"
Compromises floated as budget deadline approaches
Date CapturedTuesday March 27 2007, 12:42 PM
AP Michael Gormley reports, "One of the Spitzer proposals was pushed Tuesday by a coalition of Catholic bishops, Protestant, Jewish and other Christian leaders. They supported Spitzer's plan for a $1,000 tax deduction to offset the cost of private and parochial school tuition as a break for parents who also pay taxes toward _ but don't use _ public schools. New York Roman Catholic Cardinal Edward Egan said the measure only means $50 to $80 in savings for most parents paying tuition for the 500,000 students statewide attending private or parochial schools, but it's a start to greater state support of taxpayers sending their children to private schools. The measure is strongly opposed by the New York State United Teachers union that stated in lobbying ads that public money shouldn't go to private interests when there is still a need to better fund high-needs, mostly urban schools."
Utah heats up long-simmering school-voucher debate, Governor has signed into law the first 'universal' voucher program in the US
Date CapturedThursday March 22 2007, 9:49 AM
Christian Science Monitor reports, "The idea of vouchers dates back to the 1950s, when economist Milton Friedman suggested it would promote competition and improve schools. Proponents also argue that families should be able to apply some tax dollars to whatever school they choose. Opponents insist that public money should be used only for public schools, rather than to subsidize private and religious institutions. The Reagan administration pushed for vouchers, as did the current Bush administration in the initial education-reform proposals leading up to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which is now five years old and up for reauthorization. But so far, voucher programs have persisted only in about half a dozen states and districts; most are offered to students in low-income families, low-performing schools, or special-education programs."
Walcott's cardinal sin
Date CapturedThursday March 15 2007, 7:54 AM
NY Daily News opines on school choice, "Rather than applauding the proven success of city Catholic schools, pointing out that the mayor is a huge proponent of school choice and perhaps alerting Egan that the city's graduation rate has risen to 58%, Walcott fell back on the canards of apologists for the status quo. Those boil down to arguing that Catholic schools aren't necessarily better schools, they just have better students. Which is fried and reheated baloney. Want proof? A study out of the University of Chicago found that inner-city blacks who attended Catholic schools are 248% more likely to graduate from college than those who went to public schools. That's proof."
VOTE HERE -- Should there be a tax break for Catholic and private school parents?
Date CapturedWednesday March 14 2007, 9:11 AM
NY1 POLL: Should there be a tax break for Catholic and private school parents? VOTE HERE!
Egan's Eliot edict
Date CapturedWednesday March 14 2007, 8:29 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Despite Egan's support, Spitzer's tax credit plan is opposed by Assembly Democrats, who get campaign donations from teachers unions. The New York State United Teachers launched a $125,000 advertising campaign against the tax credits, saying the state must instead make public schools the priority. A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said the Assembly will reject Spitzer's tax credit plan because 'we thought that all families with children deserve a break,' not just those who can afford to send their kids to tuition-charging schools. Silver wants to allow more families to benefit from the Empire State Child Tax Credit - a $330 annual tax credit for parents with children ages 4 to 17. Under Silver's plan, the credit would be expanded to parents with kids younger than 4. 'More children would be covered,' said Silver spokesman Charles Carrier. 'Our budget responds to the needs of all young families with children, which we think is important.'"
CARDINAL HITS TEACHERS FOR BLOCKING SCHOOL REBATE
Date CapturedWednesday March 14 2007, 7:47 AM
NY Post KENNETH LOVETT reports on the teachers union efforts to prevent a $1,000 tax deduction for families with children attending parochial schools , "'There's a good deal of power that doesn't want the people of this state to hear the truth,' Egan said during the state's Catholic Conference annual lobby day. 'Who's afraid of competition, who's afraid of comparison?' Egan asked. When asked to whom he was referring, Egan bluntly said, 'The teacher unions,' who he also accused of killing a private and parochial school tax credit proposed by then-Gov. George Pataki last year."
Cardinal Egan calls Spitzer tuition aid just `a beginning'
Date CapturedTuesday March 13 2007, 7:03 PM
AP MICHAEL GORMLEY reports, "[Cardinal Egan] He said families that send children to private schools save taxpayers $7.5 billion a year because they reduce enrollment at public schools. He also said that while the state's four-year graduation rate for public high schools is 64 percent (44 percent in New York City), Catholic high schools in New York City have a "virtually 100 percent" graduation rate. He also said 98 percent of graduates in high-poverty, inner city Catholic high schools go to college. Egan singled out the public school teacher unions as the most powerful opponent of the measure."
Education: Voucher skirmish seeps into schools
Date CapturedTuesday March 13 2007, 8:53 AM
The Salt Lake Tribune reports, "School voucher supporters are questioning when and if Utahns determined to put the voucher question before voters can legally gather petition signatures at public schools. But voucher critics, who include many education and PTA officials, say they are operating within the law, and defend their petitioning of supporters during recent parent-teacher conferences. 'We legally can collect signatures at schools because we don't work for the schools,' said Utah PTA President Carmen Snow, whose group is among those behind the push to get the voucher question on a ballot. They have until early next month to get 92,000 signatures to qualify for a referendum that would put vouchers up for a vote on a date to be decided by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr."
The March Is Not Over
Date CapturedSaturday March 10 2007, 8:29 AM
WSJ contributor VIRGINIA WALDEN-FORD, executive director of D.C. Parents for School Choice writes, "The journey for more than 2,200 children, parents and families who have received school vouchers is just beginning. But like the previous generation of civil-rights leaders, we have not achieved our goals. Under current law, the D.C. opportunity scholarship program is scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2008, which is the middle of school year 2008-2009. Democratic activists and politicians have promised to kill this program and, ultimately, our hopes and opportunities. Black families have overcome educational segregation before. With the help of Republicans in 1957 and 2003, we broke through the doors. Will the Democrats who now control Congress end our journey by sending us back to failing schools?"
Victory for School Choice! Arizona Court Dismisses Challenge to Corporate Tax Credit Program
Date CapturedFriday March 09 2007, 9:43 AM
Phoenix—Just two days after hearing oral arguments, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge today threw out a legal challenge to Arizona’s new corporate tax credit program. The Institute for Justice and its Arizona Chapter defended the program on behalf of families of modest means who are eligible for private school scholarships thanks to the program.
Marist poll finds little support for school property taxes
Date CapturedFriday March 09 2007, 7:18 AM
Times Herald reports, "Other highlights of the findings, which were released today: 59 percent of Ulster residents rate local education as good or excellent, compared with 72 percent in Dutchess. 20 percent overall found the best thing about their district is the teachers. 12 percent find the size of schools the worst thing about their local system. One in 10 mentioned taxes. Only 41 percent think school districts negotiate contracts well. 55 percent believe their district is controlled by a small group of people with their own agenda. Many of those polled want more money for science labs, computers, the arts and libraries. Voters supported a school budget because they thought it was fiscally sound. Voters opposed a school budget because they thought it was wasteful and irresponsible. 54 percent of voters do not think increased funding means better schools; 46 percent think it does. 61 percent think any funding alternatives should not include vouchers for private or parochial schools."
Charter schools a weakness in Spitzer's plan
Date CapturedWednesday March 07 2007, 8:32 AM
Times Union contributor Richard C. Iannuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers opines, "The governor's proposal to expand the number of charter schools is inconsistent with the emphasis on accountability and reform that is central to his aid proposals."
Teacher union ads flunk
Date CapturedTuesday March 06 2007, 7:00 AM
NY Daily News Bill Hammond writes, "Here's the truth. Spitzer wants to boost annual state aid to public schools by $7 billion, or 40%, over the next four years. That's far more than the Court of Appeals required in its ruling on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. It's enough cash to finance things teachers have been talking about for decades, such as smaller class sizes. Most interest groups, if confronted by a windfall that huge, would break out the champagne. Not NYSUT. After praising the governor for providing 'increased funding,' they turn around and attack him for wanting to open more charter schools and offer a minuscule tax break to private-school parents."
NYSUT taking its campaign to public
Date CapturedMonday March 05 2007, 8:05 AM
Times Union reports, "New York State United Teachers, the state's major teachers union, is launching today a media offensive against a proposal for private school tuition tax credits and increasing the number of charter schools allowed in the state."
Utah voucher opponents want statewide vote
Date CapturedSaturday March 03 2007, 7:29 AM
AP reports, "The Utah program is the first universal voucher program in America, according to the Arizona-based Alliance for School Choice, which tracks the issue. Although the amount of aid is based on family income, the Utah program is open to all. In other states, voucher programs are targeted at low-income families or students attending low-performing schools."
Democrats Pledge: No Vouchers in NCLB
Date CapturedSaturday February 24 2007, 3:17 PM
Heartland Institute School Reform News Dan Lips writes, "On January 23, Bush announced plans to include expanded school choice options in NCLB, including: requiring underperforming schools to offer scholarships to low-income students, to allow them to transfer to the private or out-of-district public schools of their choice; providing federal funds for school boards to expand local school choice options for low-income families; and using federal funds to make sure schools inform parents about choice options in their communities in a timely manner."
House OKs adjustment to Utah voucher law
Date CapturedSaturday February 24 2007, 8:35 AM
Deseret Morning News reports, "HB174 would give the State Office of Education an additional $100,000 to run the voucher program, require teachers at schools where voucher students are enrolled to have background checks and require the state perform an audit of the program in five years."
Could School Vouchers Reduce H.S. Dropout Rate?
Date CapturedSaturday February 24 2007, 8:01 AM
KXAN.com reports, "One group says Texas is in an education crisis. According to School Choice, high school dropouts cost taxpayers $377 million a year."
Business tax credit for private school donations faces Arizona court challenge
Date CapturedThursday February 22 2007, 8:57 AM
The Business Journal of Phoenix reports, "Teachers unions and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a lawsuit challenging Arizona's tax breaks for businesses that donate to private schools. The state approved a tax credit program last year that allows businesses to write off donations to private school scholarship funds. A limited private school voucher program for disabled children also was approved."
Mike Bloomberg is blind to promise of school choice
Date CapturedWednesday December 20 2006, 4:25 AM
Daily News contributor Andrew J. Coulson, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom writes, "Instead of trying to simulate market incentives, why not actually create a free education marketplace? With a simple program of need-based financial assistance - such as the education tax credits supported by both New York's outgoing governor and its governor-elect - families could all be assured access to the schools of their choice. It's time school reformers - and big-city mayors like Bloomberg - stopped ignoring the best hope of preserving America's competitiveness in the global economy."
Ohio bill would give more kids option of vouchers
Date CapturedTuesday December 19 2006, 12:21 PM
Columbus Dispatch reports, "Although the number of available voucher slots are expected to remain at 14,000 next school year, Republican lawmakers are loosening the restrictions on what type of building qualifies for the program, which provides $4,250 for students up to the eighth grade and $5,900 for high-school students to attend private school. Currently, students attending buildings that have been in 'academic watch' or 'academic emergency,' the equivalent of a D or an F, for three straight years are eligible. The bill, which passed a joint conference committee late yesterday on a partyline vote, changes that standard to two of the past three years."
Jeb Bush leaving a tumultuous mark on Florida's schools
Date CapturedMonday December 18 2006, 6:35 PM
"AP reports, "Others now are measuring the governor's education performance as he prepares to leave Tallahassee. There's little consensus but even his critics concede Bush put a laser focus on education in Florida like never before. 'I really believe he has a sincere desire to help kids who are in schools that are not performing at the level they should be,'' said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association. `'You've got to give the guy credit for that. He did something that we've neglected in this state for far too long.' The union leader, though, faulted the governor for expanding private school vouchers instead of adopting proven solutions and for fighting against class-size reduction by claiming it was too expensive while still cutting taxes. The governor also missed opportunities to improve schools because he refused to include the union in policy decisions, Ford said."
Autism fuels call for Texas school vouchers
Date CapturedMonday December 18 2006, 8:25 AM
Houston Chronicle reports, "School voucher plans repeatedly have died in the Texas Legislature, but the Senate Education Committee chairwoman is eying a whittled-down school-choice option that might be harder for lawmakers to resist. Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, plans to push legislation that would allow parents of autistic children to choose the best schools for their children. 'They have a very difficult time in a regular setting in a classroom,' said Shapiro, who long has supported vouchers. 'I would like to see a choice program. ... It's what I think we should do for children with autism.' The number of Texas children diagnosed with various degrees of autism has nearly doubled over the past five years, increasing from 8,972 students to 17,282 in the 2005-06 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency. Autism is a complex developmental disability"
Exam has changed how Florida teachers teach
Date CapturedSunday December 17 2006, 8:37 AM
Miami Herald reports, "The [Gov. Bush] governor gives a one-word response to account for the improvements: `'scrutiny.'' Except in one place: Private schools that take tax money to educate public school students. The voucher schools get the public money but face no punishments for FCAT scores, an exemption born of Bush's free-market privatizing philosophy as well as political necessity."
Baltimore school board approves creation of 6 charter schools
Date CapturedWednesday December 13 2006, 8:28 AM
Baltimore Sun reports, "The new charters will be preparing to open amid an environment of uncertainty about how they will be funded. The city school board is appealing a ruling by the state Court of Appeals that school systems must give their charter schools the same funding as other schools. The city spends the equivalent of about $11,000 per child in its regular public schools. Charter schools receive $5,859 per child in cash and the rest in services that the school system provides, such as special education and food. Many of the schools want the $11,000 in cash."
Georgia bill would pay for disabled students' private school
Date CapturedTuesday December 12 2006, 1:34 PM
AP reports, "The top Republican in the [Georgia] state Senate on Monday introduced a bill that would require the state to pay for disabled students to attend any public or private school they choose."
Bad apples and public schools
Date CapturedWednesday December 06 2006, 4:12 AM
Washington Times Terence P. Jeffrey writes, "Increasing per pupil spending by another 111 percent -- whether it is done by compassionate conservatives in Washington, D.C., or plain old liberals in your home state -- will not fix public schools. It's time to give all American parents vouchers equal to the per-pupil spending in local government schools. Then parents can decide whether the government schools deserve their children -- or whether they will try the apples elsewhere, thank you."
Court Rejects Maine School Vouchers Case
Date CapturedMonday November 27 2006, 2:13 PM
AP reports, "In Maine, school districts in 145 small towns with no high schools offer tuition for 17,000 students to attend high schools of their choice, public or private, in-state or out-of-state. But religious schools are no longer on the list. Asking the court to take the case, a conservative group, the Institute for Justice, is representing eight Maine families who would receive public tuition funds but for the fact that their children attend religious schools. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and President Bush's homestate of Texas weighed in, saying in filings to the Supreme Court that the state of Maine is unconstitutionally discriminating against religion."
Schools need choice, not vouchers
Date CapturedSunday November 26 2006, 6:30 PM
News-Leader.com reports, "Those who believe the public schools aren't doing their job suggest vouchers will be the ultimate accountability tool. Parents who are dissatisfied can take their money and go elsewhere. The problem is, vouchers provide no accountability at all."
No Choice for You
Date CapturedSaturday November 25 2006, 7:55 AM
CATO Institute Adam B. Schaeffer writes, "This is the first time that the education establishment has dared to turn its fire on school choice programs that help disabled and foster-care children. That they have chosen to unleash the hounds on the most sympathetic beneficiaries of school choice is a sign of panic. School choice opponents have kept their hands off similar programs in the past, fearing backlash for throwing disabled children out of their schools. But although the sympathy factor seems to have made the difference in some past battles, such as the Ohio Supreme court decision upholding vouchers in 1999, both lawsuits will turn on the same few fine points of law."
An Education Gov?
Date CapturedMonday November 20 2006, 4:45 AM
NY Post contributor Thomas W. Carroll, president of the Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability and chairman of the Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls and the Brighter Choice Charter School for Boys, the top elementary public schools in Albany writes, "To start with, we need to get over the artificial distinction between public and private schools. As Rev. Floyd Flake is fond of saying, we should focus on educating the public, not public education. With literally hundreds of thousands of students now attending schools that the state Education Department designates as failing, the territorial and exclusive focus of some on public district schools is misguided. Our focus should be creating more good schools and fewer bad schools, regardless of whether these happen to be organized as private, religious, public charter or standard district schools."
Tax credits for private school tuition? No
Date CapturedSunday November 19 2006, 7:10 PM
NY Daily News contributor Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers writes, "Our children need and deserve smaller classes where teachers can give them more individual attention. They need and deserve schools that are safe, and they need and deserve teachers who are highly qualified. But we must not forget that our obligation is to help all children - not just a few."
Tax credits for private school tuition? Yes
Date CapturedSunday November 19 2006, 7:04 PM
NY Daily News contributor CATHERINE HICKEY, superintendent of Catholic schools of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York writes, "For hundreds of thousands of poor and working-class parents, public school is the only economic option. A real tax credit is a reasonable way to ensure that each and every child can obtain a good education in the school of his or her parents' choice."
Vouchers supporter expects to prevail
Date CapturedFriday November 17 2006, 3:59 PM
Arizona Daily Star reports, "Tim Keller, executive director of the Arizona chapter of the Institute for Justice, acknowledged that the state constitution bars the use of public funds 'in aid of … any private or sectarian school.' And a separate section specifically says 'no public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise, or instruction.' But Keller said these vouchers — called grants and scholarships by the Legislature — don't run afoul of the provisions."
For kids' sake, bill deserves a chance
Date CapturedMonday November 13 2006, 9:07 AM
The Times reports, "A bill called the Urban Schools Scholarship Act has been languishing in the Legislature. It would create a five-year pilot project in Trenton, Newark, Orange, Camden and Elizabeth modeled after a successful program in Pennsylvania that serves some 25,000 students. Scholarships would be awarded to 4,000 low-income children in the first year and 20,000 by the fifth year. (Advocates no longer call the grants 'vouchers,' a term they be lieve has become politically loaded.) Each family would receive up to $6,000 per child for elemen tary-school tuition or $9,000 for high school, which the admitting school would have to accept as full payment. The cost -- capped at $24 million in the first year, $120 million in the fifth -- would be covered by contributions from corporations in return for a dollar-for-dol lar tax credit from the state."
Next stop, privatization?
Date CapturedSunday November 12 2006, 4:37 PM
Great Falls Tribune reports, "Some fear that a pro-business Bush administration is intent on privatizing public education. One way of doing that is through vouchers that allow parents to send their kids to private schools on the taxpayers' dime."
Private schools wary of vouchers
Date CapturedSaturday November 04 2006, 1:43 PM
The Greenville news reports, "McCreary [director of research, evaluation, accountability and testing for Greenville County school district] says the simple fact that parents have chosen to pay for private school education is a statistically significant indicator of academic achievement. 'If you have the means to afford a private education, then normally things at home are different than they are with some public school students,' he said. 'When parents choose, they're usually more involved in their children's education,' he said. 'There's more reading, more books, more opportunities for learning at home.' There's no reason why people of disadvantaged backgrounds shouldn't be able to avail themselves of the opportunity to choose, however, said Thomas Simuel, president and CEO of the South Carolina Center for Grassroots and Community Alternatives, a school-choice group focusing on low-income black communities. 'I totally disagree with the assessment that vouchers would rob public schools,' Simuel said. 'I think public schools are already robbing from too many children who aren't cutting it in the public education system.' His group is holding 'town meetings' across the state to encourage parents in black communities to seek school choices, whether with publicly funded magnet or charter schools, or in home schools or virtual schools, or religious and secular private schools."
School Voucher Program Shaking Up Cincinnati Schools
Date CapturedSunday October 08 2006, 10:05 PM
AP reports, "In Cincinnati, 830 students are participating in the voucher program. Those children are dealing with new settings, new peers and new demands. Some students are taking religion class for the first time."
New Jersey tries to quash lawsuit that seeks school vouchers
Date CapturedSaturday October 07 2006, 8:17 AM
Star-Ledger reports, "Yesterday, lawyers for the plaintiffs said the case's central point -- that the rights of some children are being violated -- has been lost in the controversy over vouchers."
’The Plight of Black Students in South Carolilna.’
Date CapturedFriday October 06 2006, 9:40 AM
The Times and Democrat report, "Proponents of school choice and vouchers as well as supporters of the public schools agreed at a recent South Carolina State University forum that strengthening the black family, getting more parental involvement in the education of children and more early childhood education programs are essential to producing successful students."
Who supports Ohio private schools?
Date CapturedMonday September 18 2006, 7:38 AM
THE ENQUIRER reports, "Across the region and state, private and religious schools get tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer support each year from the Ohio Department of Education. Ohio is among the most generous states toward private and religious schools, national experts say."
Some see early South Carolina childhood program opening voucher door
Date CapturedFriday September 15 2006, 1:04 AM
AP reports, "Under the new law, children have to live in the suing school districts and meet age and income limits to get into the privately operated programs. But they can 'attend schools outside that geography,' DeVenny [director of statewide early childhood education program] said."
Think tank urges Florida school reforms, no class-size limits
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 10:20 AM
Orlando Sentinel reports, "New educational reforms could be ahead for Florida schools now that a conservative think tank has called for better-qualified teachers, tougher reading and math standards and an end to the state's constitutional directive to reduce class sizes."
Where Should Utah State Spend Education Money?
Date CapturedSaturday September 09 2006, 9:46 AM
Red Orbit reports, "Utah spends the least per student in the country, and has the nation's biggest classes. While past studies showed the state's multitude of children -- Utah has the nation's highest birthrate -- made boosting school funding tough. Utah in 1995 was fifth in the country in terms of funding effort, according to the foundation's 'Paradox Lost' report."
Are Public or Private Schools Doing Better? How the NCES Study Is Being Misinterpreted
Date CapturedFriday September 01 2006, 2:27 PM
Shanea Watkins, Policy Analyst in Empirical Studies in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation writes, "The NAEP data are certainly not suitable for establishing whether a specific math or reading achievement outcome is associated with attending either a private or public school. Despite this fact, the results of the NCES study are being interpreted inappropriately to imply that voucher programs, which include private schools, are a bad idea. The research literature that addresses the effec­tiveness of school voucher programs in raising math and reading achievement, based on more sophisticated methodology, is much more convinc­ing and conclusive. Students who attend a private school through a voucher program experience greater gains in math and reading than do their public school counterparts."
What the Public Really Thinks of School Choice
Date CapturedFriday September 01 2006, 11:07 AM
Andrew J. Coulson, Center for Educational Freedom opined on PDK school choice poll, "Phi Delta Kappan could do its part to remedy that knowledge gap by returning to the original wording of its question. But we needn't conduct a poll to know that that isn't likely to happen. Phi Delta Kappa is an advocacy organization for the public school monopoly, and the last thing a monopolist wants to do is remind people that in other countries, families enjoy real educational choices, and schools have to compete for the privilege of serving them."
Study D.C. education with kids in mind
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 10:48 PM
USA TODAY contributor Jeanne Allen, Center for Education Reform, Washington writes, "The reason that the Washington scholarship program exists, and the reason that public charter schools are serving nearly 25% of all public school students in the District of Columbia, is because the traditional system has failed so many families for countless years."
Edspresso
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 1:02 PM
Surf's Up! Settlement Means Internet Use For More Students
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 10:10 AM
The Tampa Tribune reports, "The new funding results from a 2003 settlement of a class-action suit in which Florida accused the computer giant of violating antitrust laws and driving up the cost of technology. Microsoft denied all allegations but settled for up to $202 million, paid out in the form of $5 and $12 technology vouchers to reimburse Florida consumers and businesses that had purchased Microsoft products."
Transfers? Columbus, Ohio students’ options few
Date CapturedMonday August 28 2006, 11:19 AM
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH reports, "More than half of the Columbus Public Schools will be forced to let students transfer to better district schools this year. That’s good news for parents who want to send their kids to a school with a better track record in reading and math. Just one problem, though: There are few buildings — especially at the elementary level — from which parents can pick."
Where's school voucher 'success' in Washington, D.C.?
Date CapturedThursday August 24 2006, 8:28 AM
USA TODAY Op-Ed contributor Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, U. S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. writes, "Education Secretary Margaret Spellings claimed an administration 'success' with publicly funded private school vouchers in Washington, D.C. There is no factual basis for her claim."
ROSY REPORT ADDS UP TO NONSENSE
Date CapturedWednesday August 23 2006, 7:53 AM
NY Post columnist Ryan Sager writes, "The answer is to give all parents - the people who know whether or not they feel their kids are safe enough at school - a choice. Open more charter schools, give parents vouchers and/or tuition tax credits, open up public-school choice to all families. Then persistently dangerous (and persistently incompetent) schools will be held accountable."
Scrap voucher plan, fully fund No Child law
Date CapturedTuesday August 22 2006, 5:01 PM
USA TODAY Op-Ed contributor E. Jane Gallucci, President, National School Boards Association writes, "And contrary to Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' assertion that vouchers 'complement' the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, they actually would render the law obsolete because private schools receiving tax dollars at the expense of public schools would not face the rigid public accountability standards to which public schools must adhere."
Florida schools to receive a piece of $3.7 million from Microsoft settlement
Date CapturedMonday August 21 2006, 9:27 PM
Boca Raton News reports on Microsoft lawsuit, "Signed in April 2003, the settlement resolved class action lawsuits that alleged Microsoft violated Florida's antitrust laws. The settlement provided benefits to consumers and businesses that purchased licenses for Microsoft operating system, productivity suite, spreadsheet or word processing software between Nov. 16, 1995, and Dec. 31, 2002, for use in the state of Florida. A maximum amount of $202 million was available to Florida consumers and businesses. Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft committed one-half of any unclaimed settlement funds to Florida's public schools in the form of vouchers. Microsoft denied each allegation but reached a settlement."
After Katrina, School Reforms Make New Orleans Most Chartered City in U.S.
Date CapturedThursday August 17 2006, 10:50 AM
BUSINESS WIRE announces, "One year after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has become one of the most chartered cities in America, with nearly 70 percent of its public school students in schools of choice, according to a new report in the forthcoming issue of Education Next, on newsstands September 1." [Education New York Online will link to the report when available.]
13 Cincinnati city schools warrant vouchers: Low performance spans 3 years
Date CapturedThursday August 17 2006, 9:45 AM
The Enquirer reports, "Students qualify for vouchers worth up to $5,000 if their school is rated in academic emergency or academic watch, the state's two lowest categories for student achievement, for three years. The first group to take advantage of the state's new voucher program, which allows up to 14,000 students to receive vouchers annually, starts classes this month."
Texas voucher advocate starts ad campaign: Low-income parents urged to seek school choice from Legislature
Date CapturedTuesday August 15 2006, 10:56 AM
Houston Chronicle reports, "Texans for School Choice wants a pilot program that allows low-income families in the state's urban public school districts to send children to any school, including a private or religious school, at taxpayer expense."
Don't pay kids to flee schools
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 10:29 AM
USA Today opined on NCLB and America's Opportunity Scholarships for Kids, "Federal accountability rules snagged struggling schools such as Rockefeller, which means Washington has a responsibility to lend a hand. That requires doing something more effective than handing out vouchers that encourage the most motivated families to abandon those schools."
Opportunity for all children
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 10:07 AM
USA Today op-ed contributor US secretary of Education Margaret Spellings opined, "President Bush's proposed America's Opportunity Scholarships for Kids would help low-income families whose schools have failed to meet state academic standards for five or more years. Parents could use the scholarship money to transfer their children to a higher-performing public, charter, or private school or enroll them in an intensive tutoring program. For those cities and districts committed to meeting No Child Left Behind's goal of every child reading and doing math at grade level by 2014, this is an additional tool to help get them there."
New Jersey suit aims to allow voucher program
Date CapturedSunday August 13 2006, 2:30 PM
Courier-Post reports, "A lawsuit filed this month by school-choice advocates seeks to give parents in 25 New Jersey districts, including Camden and four others in the tri-county area, control of the money spent per pupil on their children. The money could be used for tuition at the private, religious or public school of their choosing."
Civil rights leader fights the tide to back Jersey school vouchers
Date CapturedThursday August 10 2006, 10:45 AM
The Star-Ledger reports, "The 52-year-old Jackson said he gradually came to the cause of school vouchers -- he prefers the term 'school choice' -- after he arrived at Orange's St. Matthew's AME Church in the early 1980s. The Black Ministers' Council later filed a brief on behalf of the plaintiffs in the state Supreme Court's Abbott v. Burke school equity cases, but he said he grew disillusioned by the slow gains in the state's most troubled schools."
Debate school vouchers without injecting race
Date CapturedWednesday August 09 2006, 11:10 PM
USA op-ed contributor Kevin Chavous, Distinguished fellow, Center for Education Reform opined on school vouchers, "Let's also make sure we know the truth, which is that children who have choices do better than those who do not. The research is abundant, as are stories of triumph when America's impoverished families are given the opportunity to choose the schools their children attend."
Study doesn't set back school choice
Date CapturedMonday August 07 2006, 9:22 AM
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opined, "Leaders of teachers' unions are crowing over the findings, saying they show that public money should not go to private schools, as in Milwaukee's voucher program, since such schools perform no better than do public schools. However, the officials are reading too much into the study, which has little to say to a desperate, low-income Milwaukee parent who feels his or her child is trapped in a bad public school other than that any alternative deserves scrutiny."
Arizona private college tuition aid on tap
Date CapturedSaturday August 05 2006, 11:55 AM
East Valley Tribune reports, "The wrinkle is going to mean a slow start for a controversial program to offer what essentially amount to vouchers for Arizona residents to attend private colleges and universities."
Hyde Park schools lose special ed suit: Courts say parents should be repaid
Date CapturedSaturday August 05 2006, 10:04 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal reports, "At a meeting before an Impartial Hearing Officer, the district conceded Smith School was not an appropriate placement for [name omitted], according to the decision. While the hearing officer and a state review officer concluded the district didn't have to reimburse the family for tuition, the district court reversed the decision."
Scholarship idea is not a big opportunity for blacks
Date CapturedMonday July 31 2006, 10:18 PM
USA Today DeWayne Wickham opined, "This latest voucher scheme, if implemented, would likely give a small percentage of students in underperforming schools an escape hatch. The rest would serve as guinea pigs for conservatives' argument that such a program will pressure public schools into doing a better job of educating those who are left behind."
New Jersey parents' lawsuit: Failing schools violate our kids' rights
Date CapturedThursday July 27 2006, 10:44 AM
The Jersey Journal, "The parents, backed by the Black Ministers Council, the Latino Leadership Alliance and Excellent Education for Everyone - a pro-school voucher group - say they're acting on behalf of more than 60,000 students attending schools in which 50 percent failed two of the state's tests, or at least 75 percent failed one test."
Maine law banning funding of religious schools is appealed
Date CapturedTuesday July 25 2006, 3:08 PM
AP reports, "An estimated 17,000 Maine students from 145 small towns with no high schools are subject to the voucher program. School districts in those towns offer tuition for students to attend high schools of their choice, but religious schools are not on the list."
New Jersey school voucher fight tilts to the right
Date CapturedMonday July 24 2006, 9:17 AM
The Record reports, "A lawsuit to apply New Jersey's public-education funding toward private-school tuition has key support from some of the country's most conservative charitable foundations, including those run by heirs to the Wal-Mart and Amway fortunes, public records show."
Republicans Propose National School Voucher Program
Date CapturedWednesday July 19 2006, 8:07 AM
NY Times (registration) Diana Jean Schemo reports, "The legislation, modeled on a pilot program here, would pay for tuition and private tutoring for some 28,000 students seeking a way out of public schools that fail to raise test scores sufficiently for at least five years."
Choices for Parents: America's Opportunity Scholarships for Kids
Date CapturedTuesday July 18 2006, 7:54 PM
"Parents know what is best for their children. Expanding educational options for parents is one of the hallmarks of the No Child Left Behind Act and it remains one of the President's highest priorities." — Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
A National Voucher Program?
Date CapturedTuesday July 18 2006, 5:51 PM
People for the American Way reports, "Every child deserves a quality education. Publicly funded vouchers for private schools will not provide that. Instead they’ll drain precious funding from our school systems and widen the achievement gap."
Paterson, New Jersey named in school lawsuit
Date CapturedTuesday July 18 2006, 10:26 AM
NorthJersey.com reports, "A lawsuit filed Thursday seeks to allow parents to do just that, arguing that requiring students to attend their local district schools -- even when those schools consistently fail state standardized tests -- violates the children's civil rights."
N.J. DAD WANTS TO TEACH FAILING PUBLIC SCHOOLS A HARSH LE$$ON
Date CapturedSaturday July 15 2006, 9:38 AM
NY Post columnist Peyser writes, "Though lawsuits have been filed in Illinois and California, parents have so far been unable to wrest education money from the system's cold, dead hands. In New York, courts have ruled that billions must be pumped into schools, in the mistaken notion that more money equals better education. That notion, too, has failed." (registration required)
Vouchers siphon funds from public schools
Date CapturedWednesday July 05 2006, 4:37 PM
Tucson Citizen reports, "Academically, vouchers haven't improved student achievement anywhere. And morally - on the high ground voucher proponents love to claim but cannot reach - vouchers do a disservice not only to children, but also to the very underpinnings of the democratic society whose foundation we celebrate today."
Arizona Gov. Napolitano defends acceptance of school measures
Date CapturedWednesday June 28 2006, 4:44 PM
Arizona legislature of 2 minds on poorest schools
Date CapturedWednesday June 28 2006, 12:29 PM
Spreading Freedom and Saving Money: The Fiscal Impact of the D.C. Voucher Program
Date CapturedSunday June 25 2006, 10:22 AM
By Leon Michos and Susan Aud. This CATO Institute study examines the fiscal impact of the voucher program on D.C. Public School System and the District of Columbia. The program is currently funded by the federal government and creates a net inflow of funds to both the District and DCPS. This study also examines the fiscal impact of the program under several proposed changes to the law. Those scenarios include funding the program locally, making it universally available to all D.C. public school students, and expanding capacity by including regional private schools.
Arizona school vouchers deal angers some
Date CapturedSunday June 25 2006, 10:06 AM
Outsiders fund Utah 'school choice' PAC
Date CapturedSunday June 25 2006, 9:21 AM
Public money shouldn't go to private schools
Date CapturedTuesday June 20 2006, 10:16 AM
Arizona Voucher OK in budget deal certain to ignite legal challenges
Date CapturedSunday June 18 2006, 10:16 AM
Voucher violation or loophole?
Date CapturedFriday June 16 2006, 9:32 AM
2,450 apply for Ohio school vouchers, 14,000 were available statewide
Date CapturedFriday June 09 2006, 6:26 PM
Colorado Catholic Church creates vouchers for low-income students
Date CapturedThursday June 08 2006, 9:56 PM
Vouchers abused, Ohio says
Date CapturedWednesday June 07 2006, 10:23 AM
Shades of voucher battles: Some California preschools oppose Prop. 82
Date CapturedFriday June 02 2006, 2:35 PM
Learning How To Get Along, Odd alliance of school-voucher advocates in Oregon
Date CapturedWednesday May 31 2006, 12:05 PM
Deadline Nears For Ohio School Voucher Program
Date CapturedTuesday May 30 2006, 8:38 AM
Milwaukee's lessons on school vouchers
Date CapturedMonday May 22 2006, 7:06 PM
Parker: The NAACP's fight against private school vouchers
Date CapturedTuesday May 16 2006, 11:39 AM
Florida vouchers obscured other issues
Date CapturedSunday May 07 2006, 9:30 AM
Vouchers saved, but Florida Gov. Bush won't get amendment
Date CapturedFriday May 05 2006, 9:31 AM
Vouchers test Cincinnati school choice
Date CapturedFriday May 05 2006, 9:12 AM
Swing votes in Florida school vouchers battle
Date CapturedThursday May 04 2006, 7:58 AM
Larger class sizes and private school vouchers are Florida GOP priorities
Date CapturedThursday April 27 2006, 8:24 AM
School vouchers not the answer
Date CapturedSunday April 23 2006, 9:29 AM
New Hampshire vouchers called a recipe for chaos
Date CapturedWednesday April 19 2006, 8:17 AM
Wisconsin boosts school vouchers; skeptics ask why
Date CapturedSaturday April 15 2006, 8:45 AM
Federal Program on Vouchers Draws Strong Minority Support
Date CapturedWednesday April 05 2006, 11:47 PM
School Vouchers: The Research Track Record, Student Acheivement
Date CapturedMonday December 05 2005, 7:59 AM
This research brief summarizes the most recent evidence on the impact of private school vouchers on student achievement, particularly among low-income youngsters.



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