Education Law

No difference in performance, voucher study finds

Private school voucher proponents face another defeat after a recent study found no big difference in academic performance between the students attending private schools through the Milwaukee voucher program and those attending Milwaukee public schools. This article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said the study, released on Thursday, was the first research since any formal evaluations were conducted in the mid-1990s.

Another interesting note is that the study was funded by some pro-voucher groups, the article pointed out.

The research also found that while 94 percent of Milwaukee public school teachers were certified by the state, 69 percent of teachers in voucher schools were certified. What’s more, the voucher program continues to disproportionally burden Milwaukee property taxpayers, the article said.

This latest study again illustrates the unproven success of private school vouchers, which usurp tax dollars from the nation’s public schools where 46 million students attend. You can read about NSBA’s positions against vouchers here; and obtain more information on the case against vouchers by visiting NSBA’s voucher strategy center here.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on March 30, 2009 (boomark / email).