Friday, June 22, 2007

Study: D. C. voucher program has had little effect

Today's Washington Post reports the results of a study indicating that Washington D. C.'s educational voucher program has had little effect on student success.

Naturally, voucher proponents have all kinds of excuses for the survey's results:

But Republicans and other voucher supporters said it is too soon to judge.

"The report's findings are in step with rigorous studies of other voucher programs which have not typically found impacts on student achievement in the first year," U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in a statement. "We know that parents are pleased with the success of the program in providing effective education alternatives."


It's hard for the Bush administration to argue with the big money voucher proponents have been pouring into politicians who are willing to cast their votes against public education.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think it is reasonable to wait more than a single year to see if the voucher program worked well or not. I am certain that the Wash. Post would have highlighted any failure during the first year, and since there was no mention of any problems, I see the story as a positive for government school alternatives. What a wonderful deal that DC voucher program is for parents! hopefully the program spreads across the country.