Conservatives have long touted the game-changing impact that voucher and similar taxpayer funded K-12 school tuition programs have on improving educational success, but as you peel back the layers we find lackluster results at best.
A recent Politico article shines a light on this issue as states are set to spend upwards of $1 billion dollars on private school vouchers and similar programs in 2014. What we see are outcomes that don’t making the grade for students, parents and taxpayers, with some of this money even going to schools that teach creationism and religion as science. According to a 2011 study published by the Center on Education Policy, when compared to similar public school students, voucher recipients have generally performed at the same level on reading and math assessments.
With the lack of real and positive impacts for students, as we see in so many places around the country, including Louisiana, Wisconsin and Ohio, we should question why states are not putting that public money back into public schools to help the children that need it the most.
Earlier this summer, People For’s Peter Montgomery wrote an excellent piece that highlights right-wing strategies on vouchers, entitled “Choice’ School Accountability in the Eye of the Beholder – or Big Donor.”