Gates Foundation Conclusion on Education: "More Effective Teachers." Not Vouchers?

While the voucher advocates keep driving the idea home that parents “feel good” about private schools, devoid of contradictory stats about their perceived advantages, a simple truth slipped through about a real solution.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spent billions of dollars exploring the idea that smaller high schools might result in higher graduation rates and better test scores. Instead, it found the key to better education is not necessarily smaller schools but more effective teachers.

The foundation's new CEO, Jeff Raikes said the responsibility for social innovation often falls on nonprofit organizations, because the private sector doesn't see the profit margin in it and most citizens don't want the government speculating with their tax dollars. He said half of the more than 1 million students who drop out of school in the United States each year are from just 100 school districts.

The common sense conclusions; "The private sector doesn't see the profit margin" in innovation, and Republicans have convinced citizens not to speculate with various forms of innovation with tax dollars. It's a no win situation, isn't it.

Also strange are the voucher advocates who are perfectly fine with whatever standard the private school choose, all the while complaining about the supposed “substandard” teachers in our public systems that must meet much higher levels of training.