Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Finally A Good Report On School Vouchers
Sewell Chan of the Washington Post reports today on a study from a pro-voucher group out of Milwaukee that documents higher high school graduation rates (64% vs 32%) for students able to attend private schools. The authors of the study point out that in inner cities the graduation rate from high school is typically under 50%.
Julie Doar-Sinkfield and I attended yesterday's CATO Institute seminar on a marketplace in education. The most interesting part to me was the various views on charter schools. Myron Lieberman, of the Education Policy Institute, and Andrew Coulson, from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, attacked them as weak manifestations of parental choice because they lack many of the freedoms inherent in private schools. On the other hand Lisa Snell, Director of Education and Child Welfare, Reason Public Policy Institute, upheld charters as a true force in providing competition to traditional public institutions. She sits on the board of directors of a charter school in California.
Mrs. Snell, of course, has it right. When you see first hand the reaction of administrators, staff, parents and children in an education environment where there is a true customer the power of the market is like a bright light flooding the classroom.
The difference in their opinions is a direct result of seeing things from the inside compared to the outside.
PermaLink | 1:41 AM |
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Julie Doar-Sinkfield and I attended yesterday's CATO Institute seminar on a marketplace in education. The most interesting part to me was the various views on charter schools. Myron Lieberman, of the Education Policy Institute, and Andrew Coulson, from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, attacked them as weak manifestations of parental choice because they lack many of the freedoms inherent in private schools. On the other hand Lisa Snell, Director of Education and Child Welfare, Reason Public Policy Institute, upheld charters as a true force in providing competition to traditional public institutions. She sits on the board of directors of a charter school in California.
Mrs. Snell, of course, has it right. When you see first hand the reaction of administrators, staff, parents and children in an education environment where there is a true customer the power of the market is like a bright light flooding the classroom.
The difference in their opinions is a direct result of seeing things from the inside compared to the outside.
PermaLink | 1:41 AM |
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