Republican Enemy of Public Education Rep. Steve Nass: Compares voucher schools accountability to bullying.

Republican Rep. Steve Nass, against bullying? This from a guy who threatens to defund education every chance he gets when someone doesn't bow to his every desire.

Sen. Luther Olsen believes, like so many Democrats, that voucher schools need report cards too. Taking the same tests as public schools would do that. But to Steve Nass, that's bullying. From Upfront with Mike Gousha:

Nass: "Hogwash! The bills core aim is to hand greater powers to the inept Department of Public Instruction and bully private schools, making it less likely they will accept parental vouchers." 

Anybody else have a problem with private school bowing out if they don't feel they can keep up with public schools?

"Power" and "bully" are two words Nass came up with. Two words that are important to Nass' style of government. Nass can't understand why everybody doesn't apply these same two words in their day-to-day lives, just like he does.

Smashing the High Graduation Rates Myth at Voucher Schools.

Education historian Diane Ravitch mentioned Milwaukee's voucher program and explained away the higher graduation rates touted by choice lobbyists and backers:

I received the following email today from Senator Mitch McConnell. He really needs to get some people on his staff who can read and understand education research.

He would learn, for example, that students in voucher schools have not outperformed students in public schools anywhere. He would learn that voucher schools appear to have a higher graduation rate because they have a huge attrition rate.

For example, in Milwaukee, 56% of the students who started vouchers schools in ninth grade dropped out before reaching graduation. So, the 44% who did not drop out were more likely to have a higher graduation rate than the public schools that accepted the dropouts from the voucher schools.

Why do these so-called “conservatives” want to destroy their own community’s public schools? There is nothing conservative about that.

Funny they don’t mention that vouchers have never been approved in any referendum. Voters don’t want their public dollars to go to religious or unregulated private schools.

That was easy.

"Free Market" MacIver Institute pushes Big Government, Top Down one size fits all Voucher Program.

The “MacIver Institute” (what joke, it’s more like a place for freeloading conservatives), just revealed their true motivation behind the not-so successful school vouchers program.

After mentioning the usual “school choice gives parents educational options to escape failing schools” feel good mumbo jumbo, MacIver revealed the real reason why vouchers are so important, and it has nothing to do with education.

Trashing Republican State Sen. Mike Ellis for insisting on giving local districts the choice to go with vouchers, MacIver wrote:

It's especially disappointing when Republicans like Ellis, who have little to gain by defending the educational status quo except a few fleeting favorable headlines, decide to cast their lot with the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC). After WEAC's attempts to unseat so many of Ellis' colleagues and foment unrest at the Capitol, you would think that he would be reluctant to placate them with a proposal to block the expansion of school choice.

Vengeance...can’t you just feel it? It’s get back time, now that's real education reform. The deep thinkers at MacIver can’t get past their anger and resentment over those who dissented from the Walker Authority's big government takeover. 

Ellis’ position will only help spread “chaos” to a community near you, otherwise known as our First Amendment right to petition the government. You gotta fear the protesters:

Instead, what Ellis proposals is the expansion of the conflict, protests and demonstrations in Madison to a community near you. A battle-weary Wisconsin would see WEAC's organized chaos writ large.

Make no mistake, Republicans are big government authoritarians. The following is breathtaking, along with an amazing admission that referendums don’t really reflect the people’s intent, but the monied interests that hijack the vote:

What Ellis proposes is that no expansion of private school choice could take place without a referendum within the affected school district. To get the referendum on the ballot, supporters of private school choice would have to meet the same level of signatures needed for the recall of an elected member of the legislature. This referendum process would somehow assure "local control."

It's an absurd notion. The moment such a petition effort began, partisans from both sides would beleaguer the local school district. They would be flooded by outside union ad spending and outside union organizers opposed to school choice. Where is the "local" in that chaos?

But it was okay for the marriage amendment? Or possibly adding voter ID to the constitution? Or how about the right to keep and bear arms...the death penalty? 

Tax Cuts and Vouchers; Two Ideas that will Never be Allowed to Die.

Revelation!!!?

Two mind numbing truths have emerged from the following article about a recent Republican town hall; voucher schools are for conservatives, and taxes are never ever low enough (if they were, Republicans would have nothing else to do or talk about).

Chippewa: State Sen Terry Moulton has been holding listening sessions throughout the district since he took office 11 months ago. But Monday’s session in Chippewa Falls was his first since a recall attempt was filed against him three weeks ago.

Fewer than 12 people were there, and they lived in the building.

Katherine Hartman, an apartment resident, spoke of an anti-bullying law targeting students that has been introduced in the Assembly. She said it is her hope that it would be expanded to include adults, particularly political bullying she alleged is being conducted by some teachers.

Hartman told of a 7-year-old who came home from school and proclaimed, “I hate Scott Walker.” She also accused some teachers of letting politics get in the way of teaching, and stated many conservative teachers are afraid to speak out for fear of discrimination.
“Forty percent of the state’s budget is kindergarten through grade 12. If this is (indicative) of what’s going on in our school systems, then you boys had better get into the voucher system,” she told the politicians.

The old "conservatives are afraid to speak out" BS (hey, they have Walker to back em up now), and get a liberal free voucher system going.

As far as taxes go, cuts and freezes are never enough...

Augie Boehm of Chippewa Falls said he was under the impression that there was a property tax freeze, yet he said Chippewa Falls School District taxes are rising this year.

“And I’m reading that next year the school taxes are going to go up again,” he said. “If we’re doing the cuts, and I agree with them, why isn’t the school doing its part?“

Too bad taxpayers in his day didn't pull the education rug out from under him.

Parents Gaming Voucher System, Picking Taxpayer Pockets!

The move to privatize schools through a growing voucher movement is now unstoppable. Many have bought into the argument, without any proof or testing. 

But gaming the system is another part of the growing voucher movement.  

The Journal Gazette's Niki Kelly reported last week of another of those unintended legislative consequences. This time, it's the parents of a parochial school student transferring their child (or children) to a public school for a year to qualify for voucher support the next year.

State education officials are no longer collecting information, so there will be no way to determine how many private and parochial school students sat out a year in public school just to qualify.

For lawmakers who supported the new entitlement program as a cost-savings measure, the transfer news should be troubling. One argument for the voucher program was that it would actually save the state money. What lawmakers overlooked … tremendous financial incentive they offered to parents willing to pull their kids out of private or parochial school for a year just to qualify for vouchers.

Those are families who always intended to send their children to private or parochial school.

No School Vouchers Please!!! Another Poll Affirms Public Opposition

How can it be the Republican politicians are so hot for vouchers, while the public is opposed to them? In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker wanted a statewide voucher system and no testing. The voucher idea was pared down dramatically, but the districts forced to include vouchers didn’t want them.

To show the Republican disconnect with voters, here are the poll results from the not so liberal state of Tennessee:

WBIR: Tennesseans favor more spending for early childhood education, oppose tuition vouchers and think teachers deserve more money but are uncomfortable giving them bonuses, a Vanderbilt University poll has found.

3 out of every 5 Tennesseans believe the state should spend more money on pre-kindergarten programs, and a similar majority says the state should not offer vouchers for families to send their children to private schools.

More than 75% of Democrats favor more spending on pre-K programs, as did 55% of independents. Nearly 50% of Republicans also said they favor more spending on voluntary pre-K.

Vouchers: 57% of Republicans and 61% of independents saying they oppose giving families state money to pay for private education. More than 66% of Democrats also opposed vouchers.

Charter schools: About 54% of Republicans said they favor charters, as did 50 percent of independents. Charters were supported by 41 percent of Democrats.

No group favored giving teachers more money if their students perform well on tests. Republicans, Democrats and independents also agreed teachers are underpaid.

But still…

A pair of Republican lawmakers is sponsoring a bill that would give low-income parents in the state's four biggest counties vouchers for private school tuition. 

Virtual Schools in State Driven by Pure Republican Politics, ignores Data that Virtual School Students Losing Ground.

Anytime education is driven by pure politics, and voucher/private schools are just that, you're going to get lousy results. Wisconsin teachers who once had input now don't. Politicians are now making classroom decisions and micromanaging curriculum, spreading privatization promises that feel good but have no basis in reality. Like online virtual schools. Should we wait and see before taking the plunge, or believe the corporate hype from those who stand to benefit?

Republicans have embraced the latter, and assured themselves future low information citizens who tend to vote on their voodoo theories and promises.

EdWeek: Students attending Colorado’s full-time online education programs have typically lagged their peers on virtually every academic indicator, from state test scores to student growth measures to high school graduation rates. new findings and an achievement gap that alarmed education officials:

• Online students are losing ground. Students who transfer to online programs from brick-and-mortar schools posted lower scores on annual state reading exams after entering their virtual classrooms.• Academic performance declined after students enrolled in online programs. Students who stayed in online programs long enough to take two years’ worth of state reading exams actually saw their test results decline over time.• Wide gaps persist. Double-digit gaps in achievement on state exams between online students and their peers in traditional schools persist in nearly every grade and subject—and they’re widest among more affluent students.

Remember, Wisconsin Republicans want to expand virtual schooling, because the private sector can do a much better job, and parents "know what's best for their kids." Sure parents may have been out of school for 10 to 20 years and a little out of touch with current educational advances, but "they know what's best."

A top state education official called the findings “very concerning.”

“We’ve got to ask some questions here and we’ve got to see what’s going on,” said Diana Sirko, deputy commissioner of learning and results for the Colorado Department of Education. Sirko said the CDE will launch a “comprehensive review” of online standards and accountability under the guidance of a newly hired choice and innovation chief.

As proof marketing is the future of education, and not the qualityl, parents tend to believe the choice schools advertising hype:

Poor achievement has done little to stem the popularity of virtual programs, with online enrollment growing last year at a pace seven times faster than that of traditional schools. Online schools in Colorado are now a $100 million a year industry.

“We know online in general does not do as well as traditional schools,” said Randy DeHoff, a former State Board of Education member who now works for GOAL Academy, one of the state’s newest and largest online programs. “That’s because so many are coming in so far behind. Online tends to be kind of their last option.” DeHoff’s program targets, at least in part, students who have struggled in conventional classrooms.
The analysis of state data shows, however, that most online school students do not appear to be at-risk students. Only about 120 students of the more than 10,000 entering online programs last year were identified as previous dropouts returning to school, and only 290 entered online schools after spending the prior year in an alternative school for troubled youth. Online programs as a group have become more diverse as the population has grown. However, they still serve fewer poor and minority students than the state as a whole.

In addition, the analysis looked at the 2,400 online students who had taken a state standardized reading test in a brick-and-mortar school the year before. More than half had scored proficient or better.
Shifting Demographics

Online student scores on statewide achievement tests are consistently 14 to 26 percentage points below state averages for reading, writing and math over the past four years. The gap in reading and writing has remained about the same between 2008 and 2011, and the gap in math has risen several percentage points. “I think the achievement gap that your data shows is very alarming,” said State Board of Education member Elaine Gantz Berman.

But will bad test scores matter, or will the false sense of power parents feel from being told "they know what's best" dictate bad decision?

A mom who represents one segment of virtual families, traditional homeschoolers, said she simply isn’t interested in test scores. “You’ll find that most homeschoolers don’t care about tests,” said Liese Carberry. “That's because we have seen learning happen for the sake of learning, not for the sake of a few points on a graph.”

A sucker is born every minute.

Voucher Advocates warnings about National Curriculums Ignores Swedish Schools Success

Voucher supporters are making a preemptive propagandists strike to keep feeding out of the taxpayer trough. It’s sneaky, it’s self-serving and keeps the voucher expansion alive.

Voucher advocates have long held up Sweden as the best example of voucher success on a national level. But they’ve always ignored the two things they hate most about their system; a national curriculum and standardized test.

It seems they’re finally noticing, but only because Sweden is now banning home schooling and providing explicit sex ed.

HeraldExtra: There are things we can learn from other countries as we consider adoption. Sweden's adoption in 1993 of vouchers, following Milton Friedman's advice, made it universal and simple. The funding follows the student regardless of the parents' income. Any school, nonprofit, for profit or religious, can receive the government funding at the same amount as a public school … has to be all-inclusive, provide national standards, and have its performance monitored. They may not charge their students fees beyond the voucher. Private school enrollment has increased from 1 percent to about 15 percent.

This month's Liberty Magazine, whose mission is to protect religious freedom, is reporting that there are new sweeping additions … the national curriculum will now include a very explicit sex education class for 11-year-olds. Home schooling will be outlawed. As a result, many home-schoolers are fleeing the country.

They finally noticed Sweden has “national standards,” which means a national curriculum. Yet the article goes on to whine and complain about feeding out of the public trough and being accountable finally. Sadly they find themselves addicted to taxpayer money:

After almost 20 years these private schools cannot now afford to pull out either. This certainly was not on the horizon for the private schools when it was implemented. Now their only "choice" is to obey or fold.

The new argument: We don’t want to be like Sweden. Which also means; forget about the fact Sweden has one of the best school system in the world because their successful nationalized voucher program. 

School Choice Bottom Feeds off Taxpayer Money, and wants more.

Cute answer, dumb idea.

Check out this well thought out response to the argument that taxpayer money shouldn’t be taken from public schools. Jim Bender, president of the advocacy group School Choice Wisconsin: “It’s not their money. It’s taxpayers’ money. It’s parents’ money.”

There’s one problem to this cute answer; It is their-public schools-money, not the private sectors. It is the public’s money meant for public schools. Period.

And this is from Wisconsin Watch, a part of the Wisconsin Center for "Investigative Journalism." (my quotes) They are kidding, right?

In that netherworld of upside down conservative Humpty Dumptyisms, it’s not quality of education that matters, it's “the student’s needs first:”

“It’s not about a system. It’s not about a district. It’s about a student. If we put the student’s needs first, then there’s no problem with having the money following the child.”

Sounds like touchy feely, parent controlled, taxpayer centric bullshit to me. Oh, and motivated by conniving profiteers. For all the Republican Party’s talk about free markets and profit driven competition, the private sector is quick to pick the deep pockets of unsuspecting taxpayer with big, but temporary promises. Always keep in mind that behind the scenes, they are demanding more money, saying they can't keep their schools open without it.  

According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, expanding vouchers to Racine will add nearly $3 million to the state’s costs over the next two school years, after aid reductions to the Racine Unified School District are factored in. But Bender says the district “gets to make up for 100 percent of the state aid reduction” through local property taxes at a lower per-student cost than for Racine public school students.

There you go, taxpayer money to the rescue. 

Would you call Vouchers Successful, based on enrollment?

The headline screamed success: "School voucher program proving to be a success"

Wow, a voucher program that was working...stop the presses!! But wait, we're not talking graduation rates, closing the racial gap and test scores, we're really talking about how many unsuspecting parents are buying into this hyperbolic scheme. Check out this outrageous example of spin based on nothing but enrollment:

Indiana's controversial and highly debated school voucher program is working as hoped and is exceeding expectations. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett claimed enrollment has taken off like no other similar program in the country.

But the darker side is inadvertently revealed mid story in a warning to parents of a coming affordability disaster that will only get worse as private school costs and profits go through the roof. The end result; low and middle income families will eventually be priced out of taking vouchers.

Most students participating are from low or moderate income families. The size of the vouchers varied according to the family's income and which school district they attend. Some came very close to the cost of private school tuition, but in many cases, there is a gap of thousands of dollars to fill.

"For most, they have picked up the difference. I would say 90 percent picked up the difference," Parsons said.

That gap will only continue to grow, or be picked up with scarce taxpayer dollars. What a solution. 

Disgraced Former Assembly Speaker Jensen Helping Children Pick the Right Private Voucher School. Nice start Racine.

I remember when Scott Walker expanded the voucher system to Racine, the sh** hit the fan:  

AP-School leaders in Racine are urging Republicans who control the Legislature to remove a provision from the state budget allowing voucher schools in that city. Racine Unified School District Superintendent Jim Shaw said that vouchers in his city will result in the defunding of public education, raise property taxes and make it harder to balance the school budget without cutting positions.
 

Now parents are trying to adjust their comfort level with the new voucher reality. Parents now have to figure out how to interpret promotional fliers that claim that each of their choices are the best school around. Trust, but verify, right? But parental worries are justified when you consider who organized an informational meeting recently at a local sports complex.

RACINE: About 100 families stopped in during the first couple of hours;

“There are some parents who came with their applications filled out,” said Scott Jensen. He is senior adviser to the American Federation for Children and a former speaker of the state Assembly. The federation helped organize Sunday’s event and helped put together a similar application and information session for tonight.

Yes, that Scott Jensen. The one you’d trust your child’s education with? The same Scott Jensen, and former assembly speaker, who was:

Jsonline: convicted of three felonies and a misdemeanor in 2006, but the felonies were overturned on appeal. Jensen, who was convicted of a misdemeanor for using state resources to campaign … prevents him from running for future office because of a state constitutional provision that bars people from appearing on ballots if they have been convicted of a violation of the public trust.

He wants to help parents send their kids to private voucher schools, the new refuge for scoundrels.  

The Tea Party Motive for School Choice: "We think public schools should go away...discriminates against wealthier students."

What’s the next move for voucher advocates? We found out when Gov. Scott Walker tried to go for all the marbles when he planned to open the program up to rich and poor...hell, everyone. He also wanted to get rid of all standardized testing too, so there would be no way to hold private schools accountable to the billions of taxpayer dollars going to them.

It appears the time is right for “disaster capitalism.”

The Independence Hall Tea Party in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania is no longer mincing words. They want to see an end to public education, slowly but surely. 

NJ.com: “We think public schools should go away,’’ says Teri Adams, the head of the Independence Hall Tea Party and a leading advocate of passage of school voucher bills. They should “go away,” she says, because “they are hurting our children.’’ [...] Adams says the current voucher program “discriminates” against wealthier students by providing public subsidies only to inner-city children in allegedly failing schools.

She doesn’t stop there either. Just wait to you try and get help for little Johnny or Susie from a private charity:

“Our ultimate goal is to shut down public schools and have private schools only, eventually returning responsibility for payment to parents and private charities. It’s going to happen piecemeal and not overnight. It took us years to get into this mess and it’s going to take years to get out of it.”

This is the tea party movement. They want to take our country back…to a darker age.

Adams’ group, like Gov. Walker, wanted to extend vouchers to all students, the rich and maybe a few poor. Keep in mind, better off students will wedge out those from failing schools, and the education divide will be massive. Oh, and profitable.

"It’s one of the really big pots of money,’’ says Paul Tractenberg, a Rutgers law professor in Newark. "We spend $630 billion a year on education and many want it for private profits.’’ 

The unsettling thing is this; Green Bay and Racine both opposed vouchers because their communities didn't ask for it.  Yet the Republican authority in our state is forcing it on them anyway, at least Racine, for now...

You Need Vouchers Damn It!! Rep. Robin Vos essentially told Racine Superintendent

If those in charge of the quality of their schools programs, curriculum and parental expectations, don’t want vouchers, why would small government Republicans ignore their wishes?

Ideology! Our father figure conservative disciplinarians know what’s best, and apparently know the communities better than their own superintendents. Pay close attention to Robin Vos’ response to Racines Sup.:  

Dictatorial Weasel Rep. Robin Vos

AP: School leaders in Racine are urging Republicans who control the Legislature to remove a provision from the state budget allowing voucher schools in that city. The budget would also expand vouchers to schools in Milwaukee County and in Green Bay. Racine Unified School District Superintendent Jim Shaw said Tuesday that vouchers in his city will result in the defunding of public education, raise property taxes and make it harder to balance the school budget without cutting positions. 

Voucher supporter Rep. Robin Vos of Rochester says Racine's voucher program has wide support in the community and will remain in the budget. He says vouchers for Green Bay will also remain, but may undergo some changes.

School Vouchers, Walker's Path to Creative Destruction....

Are you a big supporter of "giving parents the power" to choose a great school for their kids? Will they find a great school by reading it's marketing brochure that makes them the best thing since sliced bread?
Will taxpayer money finally be spent on innovation and great schools?

You must read this story first, then tell me how great the private sector educational system can be.

Think Progress: Last week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) — buoyed by legislators who received hundreds of thousands of dollars of special interest cash — signed into law legislation that would dramatically expand access to school vouchers, which funnel taxpayer dollars into private schools. Scott is doing this despite proposing nearly $3 billion in cuts to public education. 

Gus Garcia-Roberts of the Miami New Times published a story looking at the case of InterAmerican Christian Academy, a private school located in Doral, Florida. Garcia-Roberts amazingly enrolled at the school and earned a diploma after only eight days of schoolwork and $399:

It began with a poster on a streetlight in downtown Miami: “High School Diploma. (305) 716-0909.” I dialed, and a chipper female voice answered, “Hello. High school.” Eight days and $399 in cash later, at the school’s Doral “campus” — a cramped third-floor office next door to US Lubricant LLC and across the hall from a hair extensions company — I was grinning widely, accepting a framed diploma and an official transcript sporting a 3.41 GPA.

The diplomas that the school is offering are actually getting students admitted to local colleges. The paper found that at “least 88 graduates have used its diplomas and bogus transcripts to gain admittance to Miami Dade College, according to that institution’s registrar.” Remarkably, the state’s Departmenf of Education (DOE), when asked about the school, said that it is powerless to stop it from rewarding diplomas. “If a school like that exists,” said Cherry Etters of the Florida Doe, “we might know about it, but we can’t really do anything.”

As Garcia-Roberts concludes, “There’s no telling how many of Florida’s 1,713 private schools — which educate a third of a million students — are run like InterAmerican. Even as Gov. Rick Scott leads a charge to privatize education on a historic scale, our state’s private schools are among the least regulated in the nation.” Indeed, Florida currently leads the country in “school choice” programs that include tax credits for private schools, voucher programs, and privately managed charter schools. The case of InterAmerican Christian Academy provides a cautionary tale about some of the pitfalls of the proliferation of lightly-regulated or unregulated private schools.

School Choice just Republican Social Engineering...for a profit...I mean for the kids.

Hey, school choice is really great, check out the ad where they say so, on the internet. That's what John Gard is telling us, and he should know.

Watch as the Green Bay superintendent insists his district doesn't need or want "choice" schools, while former assembly speaker John Gard, and now a representative a School Choice Wisconsin, knows more than the sup. does about what's best for the area.

The stark difference of a "jam it down your throat," know it all authoritarian former Republican bully and those overseeing public education has never been more fully realized.

Kinda gives you the idea that there's more to this "choice" thing than educating our kids. Profits?

From WPT's Here and Now:

Wisconsin Schools may have a case against Walker's budget cuts before the state’s Supreme Court.

I’m not sure if this is already something in the pipeline, but if it isn’t, it should be.

The state constitution guarantees funding for public education, and any major cuts to it, may lower the quality and state promise. And that would be unconstitutional.

The story below about a recent supreme court decision in New Jersey, may be the publics biggest  weapons yet in defense of our schools:

March 2011

Thom Hartmann newsletter-
The New Jersey state Supreme Court told Governor Chris Christie he is in violation of the state's constitution with his massive cuts to education. That state constitution requires the state to, "provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all the children in the State..."

But thanks to Christie's budget cuts - a lot of New Jersey schools - mostly in poor districts - are not meeting that obligation - thus the court is forcing Christie to replenish the $500 million he cut out of education. But Christie isn't the first Governor slapped down by his state's Supreme Court. 19 other high courts have told their mostly Republican governors that their education cuts are unconstitutional. 

Of course - when it comes to turning public education over to profit-making private schools for their millionaire buddies - Republicans tend to ignore what any constitution says and don't think twice about screwing over poor students.

Republican Plan to Expand School Choice at a cost of up to $750 million. After 20 years and $1 billion spent; lousy results.

Tone Evers finally nailed what I’ve been saying for years.

jsonline: State Superintendent Tony Evers in a memo Monday urged the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee to restore funding for public schools … "To spend hundreds of millions to expand a 20-year-old program that has not improved overall student achievement, while defunding public education, is morally wrong," Evers said in the memo.

Gov. Scott Walker’s crazy scheme to eliminate the income limits on Milwaukee Parental Choice Program has been the plan for the last 20 years. This is a nationwide con game many well intentioned Democrats have bought into. Walker just happened to be the first to openly admit what we knew all along, the wealthy deserve those vouchers. Were we supposed to believe Republicans really wanted to help minorities get a good education, when after all these years, they have done everything they can to take away their vote or portray them as “the other?”

But the point is, the program cost millions and done nothing promised.

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program … after 20 years and spending over $1 billion, academic performance data and the enrollment history of the school choice program point to several "concerning trends," Evers said … Low-income students in Milwaukee Public Schools have higher academic achievement, particularly in math, than their counterparts in choice schools. Evers cited this year's Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts exams and the legislatively mandated University of Arkansas study, which showed significant numbers of choice students performing below average on reading and math.

It’s not popular outside Milwaukee:

Most private choice schools are dependent on public funds. Statewide, private school enrollment has declined 14%, while Milwaukee's has grown by 14%. "This government subsidy has protected Milwaukee private schools from the market forces that have led to declining private enrollment statewide," Evers wrote. "If only one in five students enrolled in a choice school pays tuition, then when do choice schools stop being private schools and become something else?"

Typical of Republican economics, their ideology justifies dramatic spending on their agenda.

Expanding the program statewide, at the current per-pupil voucher cost, would cost nearly $750 million, according to Evers. MPS' property taxes are expected to increase by several million dollars annually each of the next two years Evers said. Milwaukee private schools enroll students with disabilities at half the rate as private schools throughout Wisconsin.

GOP Austere Governments Ignore and Exacerbate Link Between Poverty and Educational Achievement.

While Republicans successfully sell school choice by supposedly empowering parents and encouraging innovation, the truth about education is less to their liking, because it requires strengthening and increasing the middle class. That means higher incomes and placing a higher value on employees. That's not a GOP option, so the plan is to ignore the major link between poverty and educational achievement:

Secretary Paul Reville: I have been working on education reform in Massachusetts for a long time, from my days as a teacher through my current position as Secretary of Education. We must confront the reality of student outcomes such as these on the 2010 MCAS tests ... Consider: 

·         Grade 3 math: 54% of Low Income students scored in the two lowest performance the categories compared to 23% of non-Low Income students

·         Grade 4 English: 70% of Low Income students scored in the two lowest performance categories compared to 34% of non-Low Income students

·         Grade 4 math: 48% of Low Income students scored in the two lowest performance categories compared to 23% of non-Low Income students

·         Grade 5 English: 59% of Low Income students scored in the two lowest performance categories compared to 26% of non-Low Income students

....

·         Grade 10 English: 40% of Low Income students scored in the two lowest performance categories compared to 13% of non-Low Income students

·         Grade 10 math: 43% of Low Income students scored in the two lowest performance categories compared to 16% of non-Low Income students

·         Grade 10 science: 59% of Low Income students scored in the two lowest performance categories compared to 25% of non-Low Income students

Unfortunately, these results are neither new nor surprising. We readily recognize the consistent, ironclad law of association between poverty and educational achievement and attainment. However, we persist in school reform strategies that, despite success at the margins, regularly fail to address the factors associated with poverty that, on average, tend to impede student learning.


Some want to make the absurd argument that the reason low-income youngsters do poorly is that, mysteriously, all the incompetency in our education systems has coincidentally aggregated around low income students. In this view, all we need to do is scrub the system of incompetency and all will be well. It is now blatantly apparent to me and other education activists, ranging from Geoffrey Canada to Richard Rothstein to Linda Darling-Hammond, that the strategy of instructional improvement will not, on average, enable us to overcome the barriers to student learning posed by the conditions of poverty.

Thank You Scott Walker for handing Democrats another gift against recalled Republicans, Vouchers. Sen. Mike Ellis and Rob Cowles didn’t see it coming!!! Were they out of the state?

From the story below, you would be wrong to think the Republican Senate might not be interested in passing Walker's radical expansion of the voucher program, with no income limits. It’s just a show folks, and Sen. Mike Ellis, Luther Olsen and Rob Cowles are going to give an award winning performance acting surprised.

Olsen and Cowles are both up for recall, so it’ll be interesting to see them explain to concerned families why they have their reservations, but…all the while their opponents rightfully attack them on the issue.

Again, thank you Scott Walker…

jsonline: The GOP president of the state Senate said Wednesday he was concerned about Gov. Scott Walker’s push to expand a Milwaukee-style school voucher program into Green Bay, Racine and Beloit. 

Sen. Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) was one of several Republican senators giving a lukewarm reaction to Walker's proposal … that would eliminate income limits in Milwaukee's school choice program, allowing the children of middle-income and wealthy people to attend private schools with the help of taxpayers. 

“We have problems with the elimination of the income threshold because the idea behind this program was to help poverty-stricken students who don’t have the wherewithal to go to private school," Ellis said in a brief interview. “This is a complete blowing up of that concept. Throw this (new proposal) in and I have to do some serious thinking about the rest of this.” 

“I’m amazed at this. I didn’t see this coming,” Ellis said. 

Sen. Luther Olsen of Ripon, a key GOP lawmaker on education issues, said "I'm not interested in dumping something on them that they say, 'No, we're not interested in having this,'" Olsen said. 

Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) said he was surprised by the proposal, didn't know much about it. 

Both Olsen and Cowles are targets of recall efforts by union backers angered by Walker's legislation to ban most collective bargaining by public employee unions in the state.

Wasting Taxpayer Money on Unaccountable School Voucher "Innovators." Do we look like suckers?

Sweden is often mentioned as the model for a country wide voucher education system. What is never mentioned, not even in the “informed” article below, is the requirement that all schools follow a national curriculum and national standardized test. That puts all schools on a level playing field, and allows each school to compete and innovate to achieve their educational goals.

With that fact in mind, check out how removed from reality the following commentary is, and how taxpayer money is really the prize without all that accountability stuff to worry about. Bottom line: Anyone want their hard earned money going into the “innovative” for profit pockets of privateers, under the guise of “academic freedom?” Does your kid have a few extra years to be their guinea pig? Voucher advocates think so.

EdWeek: Adam Schaeffer, an analyst at the Cato Institute who has questioned the financial implications of Indiana's landmark new voucher law, has … a second essay that argues that the measure could undermine private schools' academic and institutional freedom. In a piece published by the Huffington Post, Schaeffer says the plan will detract from private schools' curricular diversity and effectively "homogenize" them by requiring that they follow many of the testing, reporting, and academic requirements of public schools.

Sweden has basically “homogenized” their education system enough to be one of the best in the world, and again, is the voucher advocates poster child example in the U.S.. 

Schaeffer bashes the Swedish model by insinuating the poor owners of private schools would have a set of actual standards that would have to be met, or be "accountable" if they want to get their grubby paws on taxpayer money. Boohoo!!!  

He notes that participating private schools would be required to take part in state tests and the state's A-F school grading system, and follow some basic state academic standards for what can and cannot be taught—some of it related to the study of government and the U.S. Constitution.

The final commentary here is from Edweek, who should know better if they’re familiar with the Swedish model, and not land somewhere in the middle giving credibility to a vacuous argument against accountability. The answer is obvious, and we shouldn't pretend otherwise. 

In his essay, Schaeffer says the Indiana voucher law amounts to "a tactical victory for highly constrained choice won at the price of a broad strategic defeat for educational freedom." Will Indiana's measure result in private schools being compelled to follow more of a public school-oriented academic model, as Schaeffer suggests? Or are the state's requirements a fair price to ask of those schools, in exchange for access to public funding?