December
2006
Audit Milwaukee School Choice Program
For years, school choice advocates have said it's a better approach to education while opponents have said it just siphons away scant funds from public schools.
Let's find out what the truth is.
How about a little accountability? Let's find out. Do choice schools stack up well against public schools? Can they do better? If they do, eliminate the caps. If they don't then reassess how funding is distributed.
The legislature has the ability and for years I've believed they've avoided it because they don't know what they'll find. Anti-government types want to dismantle public schools but we deserve to know if public schools are as bad as they say they are just as we deserve to know if choice schools are as swell as the right says they are.
With a split between the state houses — the dems control the State Senate and the GOP controls the state assembly, it makes sense to do it now.
Jim McGuigan
Jim McGuigan, Watchdogging Education
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I think with the current problems in some of the Choice Schools, there should be a lot of accountability. WHat can be done to REALLY make this a level playing field?
I would support your call for an audit, but It’s obvious what the result would be: some choice schools fail as do some public schools.
There are already studies and stuides regarding the successful school. What we need to do is to create incentives for excellence and encourage competition. For the first to occur, we need to dismantle the greater part of NCLB and return comtrol of local schools to local people. They are best suited to make the changes needed to serve local students. A further requirement for this to happen is to place real decision making power in the hands of building principals and leadership teams, not slow and bulky and inefficient district offices. (this is what your so-called “anti-government types” want to do) To encourage competition we need a consistent reporting system so parents can get accurate information of a comparative nature regarding schools–public and private both.
Remember, schools are already competitive by nature. Go into any district that has two high schools and I will assure you that math department “A” wants to be better than math department “B”.
In no sense is the choice program killing public schools; they are dying under the weight of over-regulation and over administration.