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Thank you for visiting my blog

Thank you for visiting my blog. I sometimes don't have time to post here everything that I send to my school reform email list, so if you want to receive my regular (approximately once a week) email updates, simply send an email to schoolreform-subscribe@mailer.kasecapital.com . Disclaimer The information contained in this communication from the sender is confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipient and others authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in relation of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. This email has been scanned for viruses and malware, and may have been automatically archived by Mimecast Ltd , an innovator in Software as a Service (SaaS) for business. Providing a safer and more useful place for your human generated data. Specializing in; Security, archiving and compliance. To find out more Click H...
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Dismal Voucher Results Surprise Researchers as DeVos Era Begins; DeVos and Tax Credit Vouchers: Arizona Shows What Can Go Wrong

With Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration pushing school choice, I’d like to take a look at the debate. First, here are two NYT articles that are quite damning, followed by responses by my friend John Kirtley, a key player in Florida’s choice program, Matthew Ladner, Elizabeth Warren (from her 2003 book), Paul DiPerna in EducationNext, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of NY.   Here’s the first NYT article: Dismal Voucher Results Surprise Researchers as DeVos Era Begins Kevin Carey NYT, FEB. 23, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/upshot/dismal-results-from-vouchers-surprise-researchers-as-devos-era-begins.html The confirmation of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education was a signal moment for the school choice movement. For the first time, the nation’s highest education official is someone fully committed to making school vouchers and other market-oriented policies the centerpiece of education reform. But even as school choice is po...
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Kevin Carey Flashes Back to 2009 for a Wild West tax credit tale

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Here’s Matthew Ladner’s response (on Jay Greene’s blog): Kevin Carey Flashes Back to 2009 for a Wild West tax credit tale (Guest Post by Matthew Ladner) https://jaypgreene.com/2017/03/03/kevin-carey-flashes-back-to-2009-for-a-wild-west-tax-credit-tale/ Kevin Carey is at it again- this time by flashing back to eight year old allegations about the Arizona tax credit program  as a dire warning about the dangers of a federal tax credit. When these stories ran in 2009, here is what I had to say about it here on the Jayblog : When presented with this type of information, the first instinct of some will be to deny it, to hunker down, to accuse our enemies of far greater misdeeds, or to otherwise try to put lipstick on a pig. Good luck with that.  It is blindingly obvious to me that Arizona’s tax credit is system is a good program overall that suffers from specific weaknesses that can and must be addressed.  Otherwise, writin...
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John Kirtley's defense of vouchers

Here’s John Kirtley’s response:   Whitney, First of all, I really appreciate the chance to respond. I have always valued your forum for its open exchange of ideas.  Let me address the NYT article on the research.  There have been numerous columns in the Times and other media outlets attempting to discredit the empirical outcomes on private school choice. I would love for your readers to know the fuller picture.   Read the facts about credible research on private school choice here: http://www.federationforchildren.org/setting-record-straight-school-choice/  The bottom line :  There have been 15 gold standard empirical studies of private school choice programs that measure test score outcomes: 10 show improvement, 3 are neutral, and 2 are negative—and those two are only based upon results in early years of those programs. Here is a link to a one page fact sheet on the research:   https://www.federat...
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Leaping to Judgment on School Choice

Paul DiPerna’s response: Leaping to Judgment on School Choice By Paul DiPerna 03/02/2017 http://educationnext.org/leaping-to-judgment-on-school-choice/ Contrary to recent editorials in some major U.S newspapers, the empirical research on school choice programs is far more positive than not. Summaries of the effects of multiple programs generally show positive effects , as does a meta-analysis of gold-standard experimental research on school choice by Shakeel, Anderson, and Wolf (2016). Participating students usually show modest improvements in reading or math test scores, or both. Annual gains are relatively small but cumulative over time. High school graduation and college attendance rates are substantially higher for participating minority students compared to peers. Programs are almost always associated with improved test scores in affected public schools. They also save money. Those savings can be used to increase per-pupil spending in local s...
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Elizabeth Warren's support for vouchers

Here’s an argument for vouchers from someone you might not expect, Elizabeth Warren (though it’s quite dated): https://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-elizabeth-warren-on-school-vouchers-1486597126 From “The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are (Still) Going Broke” (2003) by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi. Ms. Warren is now a U.S. senator from Massachusetts: Any policy that loosens the ironclad relationship between location-location-location and school-school-school would eliminate the need for parents to pay an inflated price for a home just because it happens to lie within the boundaries of a desirable school district. A well-designed voucher program would fit the bill neatly. A taxpayer-funded voucher that paid the entire cost of educating a child (not just a partial subsidy) would open a range of opportunities to all children. . . . Fully funded vouchers would relieve parents from the terrible choice of leavi...
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How Trump Can Expand School Choice

Cardinal Dolan’s op ed in today’s WSJ:   How Trump Can Expand School Choice A scholarship tax credit would put poor kids in good private schools—and relieve packed public ones. By Timothy Michael Dolan March 8, 2017 6:41 p.m. ET https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-trump-can-expand-school-choice-1489016469 While addressing Congress last week, President Trump called for passage of “an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth.” He added that families should be able to choose “public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home” schooling. These comments, and his subsequent visit to St. Andrew Catholic School in Orlando, Fla., are encouraging. I hope Mr. Trump will push Congress to makes scholarship tax credits available to working-class families nationwide. These programs provide tax credits for individuals or corporations that donate to nonprofit scholarship organizations. St. Andrew’s is a ...
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