Government Study Confirms What We Already Knew: DC Vouchers Improve Graduation Rates
by Lori DrummerKids placed in schools their parents chose for them – not the ones the government chose – graduate at a higher rate and are safer at school. Who would have guessed?
According to an evaluation released yesterday by the US Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences, the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) has “significantly improved students’ chances of graduating from high school.” The same study finds that “parents had higher satisfaction and rated schools as safer if their child was offered or used an OSP scholarship.”
With these dramatic success indicators, it must be no surprise that DC OSP is the only federal education program that the Obama Administration is intent on killing.
Dr. Matt Ladner, vice president of research at the Goldwater Institute reports:
“…students who were randomly selected to receive vouchers had an 82% graduation rate. That’s 12 percentage points higher than the students who didn’t receive vouchers. Students who actually used their vouchers had graduation rates that were 21% higher. Even better, the subgroup of students who received vouchers and came from designated Schools in Need of Improvement (SINI schools) had graduation rates that were 13 percentage points higher than the same subgroup of students who weren’t offered vouchers–and the effect was 20 percentage points higher for the SINI students who used their vouchers!”
That’s right. Students who used their voucher to attend a school of their parents’ choice had a 21 percent higher graduation rate than those who were eligible for a voucher but were not offered one in the lottery process. DC OSP is a federally-funded program that provides scholarships up to $7,500 to low-income families in Washington, DC – a pittance compared to DC Public School spending.
With these undeniable effects on graduation rates for low-income kids, why did Congress vote to kill DC OSP last year? Why can parents no longer choose a school that they find to be safer and offer a better environment for their children?
DC kids and parents have been begging President Obama – who himself attended private school on scholarship – to support them since he took office. But so far, the Obama Administration has cut the program by millions of dollars and disallowed new students to enter the program.
As common sense – and every study ever completed– tells us, high school graduation is a key indicator to success. Students who do not graduate are significantly more likely to become single parents at young ages, rely upon public assistance, and go to prison.
No other federally-funded program that has had such a remarkable effect on graduation rates, nor has another federally-funded program met such high demand from parents firsthand. Between 2004 and 2009, 5,500 students applied to participate in the program, and 3,700 received scholarships.
By opposing the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, the Obama Administration is actively barring students from pathways to programs that have proven successful in increasing their chance to graduate college. This position is unconscionable.
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87 Comments
Again, evidence that if we must spend public money on education, it should be attached to the student and not the school. Parents as consumers for their children will, on average, know what kind of school environment is best for their child. The government cannot adequately make that choice for each individual.
What a surprise. This program actually worked so it had to be stopped. Can't raise the expectations too high, the people might expect something else these clowns do to actually work.
Again, I sound like a broken record. Vouchers cause two things to happen. First, we get to vote with our feet by researching the best fit for the education of our children. Second, and most important, is we get to begin eliminating the parasite teachers' unions from ours and our childrens' lives.
Way too logical! It will never fly….: -)
But, but, the mental giants behind the far-left wing socialist party is the only political party that loves our children of all races' and backgrounds. The issuing of condoms to our primary school children is just but one example of this. I argue you're dead wrong.
/sarc off
It's in democrats best interest to ensure that kids receive a sub-par education which is why they oppose vouchers, not to mention public schools lose money for each empty seat so they have to make sure these kids are not allowed to leave the public school union prison where leftwing perverts give condoms to pubescent children and scare them into believing their breath is going to kill the planet. Democrats are also very well aware that the dumber you are you'll vote democrat. Kids graduating not knowing simple arithmetic, history or geography is not a bug, it's a feature. And these kids are so dumb now that teachers have begun inflating grades. Everything liberals get their Gollum like hands on they destroy.
"The government cannot adequately make that choice for each individual"
The government cannot adequately make ANY choice for each individual. The government can set reasonable parameters for the choices we make, mainly to protect the rights of other individuals, applying equal justice in matters of dispute. But the very notion that government should be allowed to MAKE decisions for individuals is anathema to any civilized form of government.
I know you know this. I just wanted to stress the point.
When I was logging back in the 80's, the Forest Service was big on trying out new methods of sustainable logging practices. The ones that worked and were efficient were always the first to go. The idea that you point out is true at all levels and sectors of government.
And what first grsder doesn't like playing with balloons!
It all boils down to "You get what you pay for". I've attended both public and private schools. I promise you you're going to get a better education in a private school. Public school teachers could care less about your child's education. They are working from the perspective that both they and the students are "forced" to be there…so there is a bench warming mentality. Everyone is just there to "do their time" in their minds.
The dems, teachers' unions and anyone that supports them are parasites, pure and simple!
With vouchers, progressives don't get a piece of the action or the ability to infect your kids mind with devisive and hateful policies.
So, even the "purportedly moronic" inner city under-classes have the capability to make good decisions and work toward positive outcomes when the government gets out of their way?
Such unconventional wisdom…
That depends upon the school; L4S.
I know of terrible, lefty private schools and also of some really good public schools, though the latter's number has been steadily falling for decades.
Of course the 'Bama administration doesn't support vouchers. George Soros and Andy Stern say 'NO' and the little puppet president must obey.
[...] [...]
"not to mention public schools lose money for each empty seat"
Absolutely right. But take this point forward. Cities and States also receive additional funding for added welfare recipients, food stamp recipients, wic recipients, etc.
So when you consider that failing schools increase the rolls of the government dependent, you can begin to see that there is an entire INDUSTRY set up to produce underachievers and government slaves in order to keep the federal funds flowing in. And we can thank the "progressive" criminals in government for this growing industry.
Yup, as Glenn would say, "That's why progressives hate vouchers, in a nutshell."
Simple mistake, the dim's don't care about education, they care about indoctrination and if you can't keep the cattle all in one government subsidized message approved stall then that becomes much harder.
The ground troops are the befuddled school teachers that are unionized and incentivized to kill any real educational efforts and made to feel superior to the rest of us for doing it.
You bring up a good point. When I was like seven years old, I had a neighbor who was one of my best friends growing up and one day somehow (I don't today recall the exact details), we went rummaging through his Dad's car trunk. There were boxes after boxes of these funny looking balloons and so we grabbed a horde of them and went about the whole neighborhood passing them out. The embarrassment turned fatal after we "learned" what those things are used for. My school classmates had a absolute blast. Oh, the horror of it all. Turned out his Dad was the district manager for Trojan.
I speak from my own experiences and observations. As they say…seeing is believing.
amen. peace!
Public schools, just like private schools, used to allowed to leave back kids who failed/shouldn't be promoted to the next grade and kick out disruptive students. That, as well as being able to "skip" kids who could do a higher grade's work is long gone now and ended almost 50 years ago.
"Social promotions" ( just pushing a kid through the system ), messing with the curriculum, adding the "touchy-feely" and sex-ed crap, and lowering the standards ( which has happened in the very best of the best private schools ), has all made the devolution of our schools something which nobody should be proud of !
Vouchers work, but that is why the Dems don't like them; they are the elitists who want to bar all others from attaining enough knowledge, so that the dummies will keep them in power.
Exactly. Education should put the student first, the unions last. Problem is, this is counter to the need of the leftist establishment to have an ignorant, programmed to accept ever increasing government power, willing population.
A well educated populace would, for example, know that Arizona is a BORDER state. It is no accident that the liberal "rank and file" are blithering idiots even if they do have an Ivy League degree.
The public educational establishment is about mass producing "useful idiots" and this is even more important in urban centers, which drive demand for social programs and are liberal power bases.
Forwarding this to a teacher friend. Hardworking dude, takes his work seriously, but hasn't a clue as to how bad the government schools can be.
[...] Vouchers Improve Graduation Rates Filed under: Education — randallmelchert @ 10:04 am BigGovernment.com That’s right. Students who used their voucher to attend a school of their parents’ choice had a [...]
It would also create competition through private enterprise. If government schools didn't have a monopoly supported by compulsory taxation there would be a HUGE amount of entrepreneurial education opportunities. Schools could actually contribute to GDP instead of leech it.
Actually with public schools we ARENT getting what we paid for. I went to a private school that spent far FAR less per student than public schools do. But I guarantee that more money got "to the right place" than happens in the inefficient by design government school regime.
Yep, as long as the unions are eating at the through, the left could care less (and in fact would probably love it) if students did nothing all day but sing "Barack Hussein Obama mmm mmm mmm".
I had teachers that ranged from great to terrible in public schools (and I can think of only two terrible teachers), so I'm not willing to condemn public schools across the board, but I agree with everyone in this thread that vouchers ought to be available to parents who feel that their kids would do better in private schools.
So do I, except that I also speak from knowledge of the American education system, for the past 300, or so years.
Your anecdotal evidence is far too small to base, accurately, the state of national education. ;^)
We must kick the government and the Union out of our schools.
This country was built by Capitalism. Capitalism abhors monopolys, yet we allow government to monopolize certain sectors. You make a hugely important arguement for limited government and getting rid of the strangle hold they have enjoyed for too long.
That mental image brings a smile to my face! Thanks.
Oh contraire! In THEIR minds (the teachers), you are getting more than you pay for. Ask anyone in the NEA if they believe they're being fairly compensated. You're never going to convince them that you are paying enough taxes to subsidize their entitlement mentality. Meanwhile, they either warm the benches or actively fill your child's mind with revisionist history and Communist propaganda.
There is no doubt that any student will receive a higher quality education in a private school. The public system was designed broken and has only gotten worse. It's time to break the back of public sector unions and return to what actually works.
Well, if you want to make the case that our education system is perfectly fine the way it is…you're welcome to argue that position. I, in all good conscience, can not support that position.
Also. I think it was pretty petty to thumb me on that last comment (whoever it was).
So far, so good. Not a single dissenting voice to the common sense and utility of school vouchers! Seems that anyone that is asking us to vote for him or her needs to state where they stand on the subject. And no mealy mouthed half answers that pols are so famous for.
It's really simple (Why the Beltway crowd doesn't get it) attache the $$$ to the kid. Let the parents choose the schools their kids attend. DUH!!!!!!!!!!
It'll never fly. The want our kids to know just enough to fill out the welfare forms thats it!
You can basically draw a line from the time the Feds got involved in education and see that from that point on the system collapsed.
From the beginning of our nation until the 1950's to 60's schools were largely local. The local community funded it and controlled it. Kids were taught properly. Now that state and, worse, federal government controls and mandates large parts of it, it has collapsed.
I thumbed you down for cause. You aren't an "expert" on education, your claim that your anecdotal "proof" is "enough" is patently false, not to mention ridiculous, and it is more than obvious that whatever schools you attended did you no good, since now you erroneously claim that I stated that our education system is "good", which I most assuredly did not !
Since you're so "all knowing" on this topic, lets, by all means, get into the nitty gritty of it !
Please explain and expand on Dewey's statement that all children should no longer be taught penmanship.
Expound on SUMMERHILL.
And don't look any of the above topics for debate !
Collapsed in what sense? Institutionally, they're stronger than ever, so I'm assuming you're not speaking of that type of collapse.
[...] program that greatly improved graduation rates? Why did he act in the face of strong evidence to the contrary? According to an evaluation released yesterday by the US Department of Education Institute of [...]
What? Being allowed to use my tax money where I think is best for my kids? How dare you attempt to usurp the power of the fed and the "general welfare" (state) of everyone, including the ILLEGAL ALIENS (emphasis mine) here sucking up our money!!! We the People Taxpayers just love drowning in debt, paying for everyone who doesn't give a damn and are here to promote Cloward & Piven principles.
To all persons with a frikkin brain, please read Chapter 2 of the Communist Manifesto to see the progressives’ goals. Here is a BASIC outline of what they want:
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c.
This sums up their goals (a few) for the USA. They have not stopped at primary (K-12) education as they are now going hog wild on the upper levels!
VOTE NOVEMBER FOR THE CONSTITUTION, NOT PROGRESSIVE IDEOLOGY!!!
But the leftist agenda is not about success (you know that's a dirty word now) but about control.
Collapsed as in producing EDUCATED individuals. Of course the institutions are stronger than ever, but that strength has nothing to do with student's results. As we've seen, spending on education has skyrocketed since the 1970's, while results have been flat or have declined.
Before education became a state and federal government responsibility we led the world.
If you don't know where to go to find the communist manifesto (a.k.a. The guide to fundamental transformation), here is the link:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/c...
Gee, look….it is at a marxist domain. Go figure. I thought it would be on whitehouse.gov? Pretty soon, it may as well be if this is not stopped.
Since you want to play the childish angle with me, you said
"I also speak from knowledge of the American education system, for the past 300, or so years. "
I seriously doubt you've lived 300 years. You said "from", not "of"…that implies personal knowledge. Evidently your knowledge of education does not extend to the English language. I must have gored your sacred ox. I'm guessing you're an NEA dues payer. Your problem…not mine. My part of this conversation is over. Now…rant on all you like.
My use of the word "from" is correct, since some of my knowledge comes from familial, eye witness sources.
You didn't "gore" anything but yourself.
I am not now nor ever was an NEA dues payer.
"Childish" ? That would NOT apply tfo me, but it does apply to you ! Your baseless assumptions have now proved just how little you know and understand about this topic. Thanks for proving my point !
All I posted, to begin this back and forth, was that there are some terrible private schools ( which has always been the case ) and some good public schools and you attacked me.
Here's a hint………………take a course in simple reading comprehension and don't post about topics you don't understand nor know much, if anything about.
Diabolically true, Satan.
Whoop, deah it is.
Now we're getting somewhere. I agree with your conclusions so far. Now let's discuss the cause(s). From what you've said so far, I surmise that you believe that we are failing at educating our students by virtue of the fact that the government has become involved.
I contend that it is because of the nature of our government, and not it's involvement per se, that we are failing in this manner. Ask yourself if our government was full of Washington's, Jefferson's, Franklin's and Adamses, and absent of progrlib Communists whether we would be in the same state of failure. I think the answer is obviously \”No\”.
This failure, and all our other failures for that matter, stem from a massive lack of moral integrity and Constitutional Principle. Sadly, these are not problems that can be remedied by throwing money at them.
If government simply helped fund education, but took no role at all other than possibly setting some objective minimum standards for results, it's involvement wouldn't be negative (though I can argue that why should I, in Kentucky, pay for the education of children in California, but that's another argument).
That isn't what it has done. Government has taken an ever more meddlesome role in education, pushing it's own self interest and agenda ahead of things students actually need to learn (reading, writing, arithmetic, history, civics, etc).
It also doesn't help that the institution was corrupted from within as leftists deliberately set out to infiltrate it.
Now, how to fix it? Easy, get higher levels of government out of it. Break the government school monopoly by allowing parents to choose any school, public or private, and send their share of funds with the student instead of the district. If the failing public schools have to compete with succeeding schools, the failing schools will cease to exist. If bad teachers have to compete against good ones, they will find themselves unemployed. Good teachers will find themselves in demand and, hence, rewarded.
The system is broken and will never be fixed as long as it's allowed to exist outside market forces. A system that gets more money as a reward for FAILURE has no incentive to improve.
And in an unrelated story, hosts of gov't programs that have not worked asked for more money, assuring the gov't that they will find success but only if they spend more money.
Ummmmmmmm…………..Wildcat84, the Federal Government actually got involved in public education quite a few decades earlier, but really got their talons into it in the late 1940s. By the mid to late 1950s, Vice Admiral Hyman Rickover was so concerned that he testified before Congress about the sorry state of this nation's public education system.
OTOH, many a private school as well as those teachers being turned out by Columbia Teachers' ( which is part of Columbia University ) other such Ivy institutions, and the University of Chicago were using Dewey's and worse, methods on their students, from the late 1800s onward .
Even in good public schools, the methods of teaching math, from the first grade onward, has been changed, revised, and dumbed down for at least 7 decades.
Then there's rote, which liberals poo poo, as they do phonics; both of which have been trashed, but which work far better than anything "new" they have come up to replace them with.
If we really want to get into the historical basis for the corruption of education, we need to go back almost four centuries to Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his abominable "educating the whole person" crap.
I'm glad we cleared the air on this one. It seems we are in agreement if fact and in principle.
As far as that other argument goes, I have sometimes wondered why people with no children should be required to contribute. I always come away with the idea that an educated society benefits us all. People who are properly prepared to meet the challenges of a free market society are much less inclined to turn to crime as a means of survival.
Oh, I know that full well as you said.
No one makes better choices for me than I have the capacity to make myself. It's a sad fact that some people make inadequate decisions for themselves, and I understand that liberals can't stand that. However, the blanket approach of forcing the same choice for everyone is equally egregious and harmful.
That second is the biggest problem. Kids don't get forced to make campaign contributions via their dues.
Absolutely true. I remember a gal who called Rush admitting that she was once a liberal and because she wanted to help the poor, she went into social service working for a local public assistance office. She stopped being liberal when she realized via various practices at her job that the assistance wasn't designed to help people be self-sufficient like she thought; all they were concerned about was signing up ever more people and keeping their roles high. She got disillusioned that they never helped anyone become independent.
Not all public schools are bad. There are still some districts that take pride in the achievement of their students, but I do agree that these seem to be dying out. I'd look at smaller town, rural districts as your best bet for finding one. I grew up in one of those kinds of districts; sadly, I hear the focus for the town has since changed.
Robert Gibbs Is Asked About Obama's Connecticut Social Security Number http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Aahw3NT6E
Obama's Social Security Number(s) – Jerome Corsi on the Jeff Kuhner Show – 5/18/10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRt64dO0opE&pl...
I worked for a few years in an inner city school and was appalled by the attitudes I saw in their across the board. For every one who cared and tried to make a difference, their were more who didn't or couldn;t be bothered both in faculty/staff and on the parental side.
However, every single inner city person I have had a conversation with and adequately explained the idea of school vouchers to was all for it with no real persuasion needed. Even the bad parents or those whose lives are too busy to pay adequate attention know that their schools are dead ends and they want better for their kids. The American dream is still very much alive in that respect.
And in this type of system, schools that had those great teachers and could capitalize on their time and talents would prosper because those types of environements attract students.
I would agree with you that I had a lot of memorable teachers growing up. They'd be their working right alongside your good teachers.
This brings me back to that old Cheech & Chong album:
Class, Classsss, SHUTUUUUUPPPPPPP
j/k
"As common sense – and every study ever completed– tells us, high school graduation is a key indicator to success. Students who do not graduate are significantly more likely to become single parents at young ages, rely upon public assistance, and go to prison."
Emphasis is mine. And, to me, that's what the goal of denying school vouchers is: To get more people dependent on the government cheese.
You are so right. I hate the concept of public employees' unions with a passion! We need to repeal the law that allowed them in the first place. If it doesn't happen soon, 51% of the voters will be beholding to the government and then we really are doomed!
\”Not all public schools are bad.\”
I'd say that depends on your personal definition of \”bad\”, and at what point on the scale of diminishing expectations your currently find yourself. In short…\”bad\” is a relative term. What's bad to me might be perfectly acceptable to someone else.
[...] » Government Study Confirms What We Already Knew: DC Vouchers … [...]
No only a good (puke) public education by a union teacher can improve (barf) grades
It's all about pleasing the teacher's union. They can't have competition. That may expose them as the corrupt leeches they are.
with the numbers of intelligent people out of work there should be more neighborhood skools…teach your kids!!…hell you got thru the third grade…the public skool system is failing YOUR kids…this is one of those times you gotta do the RIGHT thang…if'n dey cain't reed how iz dey gunna no how mush medisin to gib ya????
I fully expect to see the SEIU and teachers unions protesting outside the US Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences, the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) very soon….How dare US citizens have a choice!!
At least until us taxpayers stop funding it….
Don't like it…don't fund it!
No reply…only a thumb down. The coward's way out: Because you cannot refute the truth. Whoever you are…know that I hold you in contempt for your cowardice. There is always room for debate in this great country, but there has never been space for cowards.
Actually, no. I've been afk for a substantial amount of time. Arguing with an argument based on relativity isn't going to do you any favors though. Some cultures consider what we would call murder to be culturally acceptable for them. I suppose how you define "murder" is also relative.
To me an education that cannot prepare a child for the future by omitting basic skills and knowledge or attempting to provide them in an environment that makes learning them impossible is a "bad" education. I saw plenty of that in my few years as an inner city school teacher.
My own public education experience saw me taking blue book exams in high school for English in a class where the teacher expected us to perform a substantial amount of our coursework outside the classroom enabling me to skip basic college instruction. I was taught enough chemistry to skip a couple levels of chemistry in college. I had enough math that I was in calculus during my senior year. Even earlier, I was taught basic logic and deductive reasoning in grade school (how to think not just what). I'd say I got a pretty thorough basic education, but then again, my district took pride in educating and so did the parents of the town.
Btw, with all the myriad posters that frequent here. Why do you just assume that I flagged you down with no reply. I generally don't flag people down for simply disagreeing with me. I save that for those who are clearly being asinine.
AMEN Brother (Sister?) Aharris!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE your post!
I was going to say just 3 words personally… Home School Works.
There is no government or government employee that loves and listens to my kid like their PARENTS.
'Nuff said!
"afk"? Please define. The definition of "bad" IS subjective. The definition of "murder" is as follows:
–noun
1.
Law . the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder), and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder).
There are 48 different definitions of "bad" in dictionary dot com alone!
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bad
Look it up for yourself. While you're there, also look up "subjective" and "objective". Familiarize yourself with these terms if you wish to debate me in the future.
I didn't. You replied of your own free will and accepted responsibility for the act. Perhaps you are in error.
I see. So when someone else flags you down it's automatically my fault because rather than simply flagging you one way or the other, I took you seriously enough to actually reply to you?
Talk about skewed perspective.
afk = away from keyboard, as in not at my computer to have done anything with it one way or the other; I don't live next to my keyboard
Then, if your argument that public education is universally "bad" is merely subjective and open to interpretation, why vociferously disagree with anyone who calls you on your opinion merely by issuing their own? This is a discussion board where people talk about things.
Subjective opinions are unique to the individual and you should be content that quite a few people are going to disagree with you.
Hey. I'M NOT the one who drew a parallel between the words \”bad\” and \”murder\”… YOU WERE! You also claimed responsibility for thumbing me down without a comment. I didn't accuse you of anything. You just jumped in the middle of this and started talking irrational shit. Maybe you should should put a breathalyzer on your keyboard to prevent you from further train wrecks in the future.
I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with me. It's when they act like a fucking asshole when they do it that I get defensive. Let those with ears…hear.
[...] Government Study Confirms What We Already Knew: DC Vouchers Improve Graduation Rates [...]
[...] » Government Study Confirms What We Already Knew: DC Vouchers … [...]
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