Public Schools outperform "parents know what's best" Voucher Schools!

Despite the fact that almost every former Republican Assembly leader is now representing charter and voucher school policy as a lobbyists, people still believe privatization is the answer to our educational woes.

But the test scores tell a whole different story. If public schools performed this badly, the clamor that "parents know what's best" and "kill the Department of Education" and "partisan Pridemore for schools superintendent" would be ringing out in every right wing media source. The fact that public schools trounced vouchers after 20 years "private innovation," kind of tells you something, and won't make any difference at all. This is all about a conservative belief system, not reality:

WSJ: The Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam results show gains in math and reading over the past five years, a persistent and growing performance gap between black and white students, and Milwaukee and Racine public school students outperforming their peers in the private school voucher program.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers called on the Legislature to include private voucher schools in the state’s new accountability system.

He highlighted that test scores for all Milwaukee and Racine students need to improve. Among Milwaukee voucher students, 10.8 percent in reading and 11.9 percent in math scored proficient or better. Among Milwaukee public school students, it was 14.2 percent in reading and 19.7 percent in math.

Gov. Scott Walker has proposed expanding the state’s voucher program, including to such districts as Madison.