Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008 12:00 am
Twenty thousand kids can't be wrong.
That's roughly how many Milwaukee students are utilizing the fast-growing voucher program to attend private schools. Their parents could end up being wrong, of course, but at least they had the choice.
That's an often forgotten word in the debate over publicly funded school-choice programs. Before taking the leap into the program, low-income parents in the Milwaukee district must weigh all of the choices carefully. And the fact that public school enrollment there has plummeted over the past decade should tell officials which choice is most popular.
Leaders should take a hard look at expanding the voucher program to Racine. A proposal by state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, to do just that last year was greeted with only yawns. Most legislators are needlessly afraid to touch this hot potato.
Opponents of vouchers complain that the program hasn't solved all of the educational ills in Milwaukee. It's doubtful anything short of a magic wand could have done that already, in fewer than 20 years.
One study earlier this year suggested Milwaukee Public Schools would have graduated 20 percent more students over a five-year period had the district's graduation rate matched that of school-choice participants. The study shouldn't be dismissed simply because it was funded by a nonprofit organization that favors vouchers.
Even if the program doesn't meet lofty expectations for boosting achievement, parents could have other reasons to want a change they couldn't otherwise afford. Some private schools offer stricter discipline and have fewer behavior problems. Or they may offer better extracurricular activities.
In exchange for public dollars, participating schools should have to accept more strings than the 13-page statute that already governs the voucher program. They should be required to give students the same Wisconsin Knowledge Concepts Examination that public schools use to compare progress. Right now, comparisons are impossible because private schools can get by with any nationally recognized test.
Private schools might steer around the program to avoid those limitations. Most have limited space for new students, and some fear it would water down their religious curriculum. So to say this would empty the public schools is a bit too dramatic.
Superintendent James Shaw took the top job at the Racine Unified School District largely to lift achievement among students from lower-income homes. Given his extensive research on the topic, there's room for a little cautious optimism on the long-term health of public schools.
The problem is parents don't have the luxury of waiting. Putting their child's future on hold for years while the system rights itself is not one of the choices available to them.