The struggle between teacher unions and students continues- the D.C. school voucher program is the latest battleground. Unfortunately for around 1,700 students whose parents are happier with the program, whose grades and reading levels have gone up, and whose costs to the taxpayer per student have been halved...the unions appear to be winning. (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10008)
The Heritage Foundation, the CATO Institute, and numerous conservative pundits, Congressmen, and columnists have called on President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to keep the D.C. School Voucher program intact. Unfortunately, it appears that federal funding for the program will end at the end of 2010, according to George Will. (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/23/compassionate_liberalism_96127.html)
Dan Lips, Senior Policy Analyst for Education at The Heritage Foundation, wrote on April 10th that the average improvement in reading for the program's approximately 1,700 students was 3.7 months (meaning students were 3.7 months AHEAD of their classmates in equivalent grades in the D.C. school district). Lips also quotes two numbers: $7,500 is what the program allots per student per year, and $15,315 is what it costs each student in the public D.C. school system. (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/wm2391.cfm) Basically, students are getting better results for less cost to taxpayers, something the "fiscally responsible" Democrats allegedly support.
Lastly, according to the National Right To Work website, "In 2007, D.C. public schools ranked last in math scores and second-to-last in reading scores for all tested urban public school systems on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)." (http://www.nrtw.org/en/blog/shaky-dc-school-reform-28192008) Apparently the much-vaunted public school system is doing its job- providing teachers with lots of employment opportunities.
The accusation by many on the right is that union labor is to blame for Congress' lack of courage in promoting the voucher system, since labor unions support many of the Democrats who dominate Congress. Whatever the reason, The Heritage Foundation surveyed members of Congress, and found that 20% had attended private schools, and 38% had children attending private schools. (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/bg2257.cfm) I'm not sure why Congress won't support helping poor minorities get a better start in life, but I hope that later this year, when the bill ending the program comes through the House, Congress will find Hell unfrozen and the Democrats will follow through on their caring for the poor minorities in the worst educational system in the nation.