Reprinted from the NJEA Reporter, April 2004
(Eighth of a Series)
The city’s 14-year voucher experiment is shrouded in controversy and scandal
Milwaukee’s first-in-the-nation voucher program has been operating since 1990. People at the Newark-based Excellent Education for Everyone (“E3”) describe it as a resounding success, and talk about “importing” it to New Jersey.
With funding from outside organizations, E3 has flown scores of New Jersey parents, community activists, and political leaders to Milwaukee to witness the “miracle” first-hand.
But these carefully-scripted tours of Milwaukee’s voucher schools ignore the fact that the program has been both costly and controversial.
Here are the facts:
Taxpayers are footing the bill. Contrary to what E3 says, the program is costing Wisconsin taxpayers, who are picking up the tab to cover its impact on the city’s public schools. This year, that amounts to $78 million, 45 percent of which comes from increased property taxes to cover lost state aid; the other 55 percent is paid by all Wisconsin taxpayers. Even worse, 40 percent of that $78 million amounts to a “voucher surcharge,” since the law allows voucher schools to receive payment far in excess of their normal tuitions.
Public schools are being hurt. Voucher proponents claim Milwaukee’s public schools have improved, thanks to the “competition” from voucher schools. But a recent study by the city’s Public Policy Forum found little evidence to support that claim. In 2001-02, only 19 students left each public school for voucher schools, taking their entire per pupil expenditure with them – and leaving their classes with fewer resources.
Selective admissions are a reality. Milwaukee parents have learned that when it comes to vouchers, private schools – and not parents – do the choosing. While there is a lottery to select students, fewer than 25 percent of voucher students transferred out of the public schools, while 37 percent were already attending private schools (the remainder were just beginning kindergarten). Said one private school administrator: “Many of our current choice kids were our students before choice.” Parents of voucher students also are better-educated, have higher educational aspirations for their children, and are more involved in their children’s schools. Perhaps most importantly – and here’s something E3 never tells New Jerseyans journeying to Milwaukee – a third of voucher students are returned to the public schools each year. Not surprisingly, they were lower-achieving students than those who remained. Their parents have no right of appeal.
No gains in student achievement. Five official state evaluations of the Milwaukee voucher program found “little or no difference in voucher and public school students’ performance.” A U.S. General Accounting Office study reached the same conclusion. In 1995, pro-voucher lawmakers removed the requirement that voucher schools test their students and report scores to the state. So, for nine years, there has been no way to verify student achievement in voucher schools.
Special ed students need not apply. While the voucher program says no participating private school may exclude special education students, voucher schools are not required to offer such programs. Most do not, since only three percent of voucher students (as opposed to 16 percent of Milwaukee students) are in special education classes.
Accountability is non-existent. Voucher schools do not have to hire certified teachers; administer the same tests as public schools; use approved curricula; or report on students’ academic achievement, nor are they required to do background checks on staff or to comply with open meeting laws. “How can you have competition when you have one set of schools operating under one set of rules, and another set of schools operating under a different set – or without rules?” asked former Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association President Paulette Copeland.
Fraud and abuse are commonplace. Tax dollars are still flowing to Alex’s Academics of Excellence, a voucher school whose chief executive has been convicted of rape and tax fraud. The judge at his fraud trial said: “It seems that [the voucher program] is easy pickings for people who are inclined not to be honest.” State officials recently closed the Mandella School of Science and Math after its principal cashed $330,000 in state checks for students it never enrolled. While teachers went unpaid for four months, he purchased two Mercedes-Benz cars. Numerous other voucher schools have been closed for fiscal mismanagement.
The “Milwaukee Miracle” is a mirage.
NEXT MONTH: – Who’s behind the Black Alliance for Educational Options? – Like a number of voucher “front groups,” BAEO sounds like a legitimate organization … until you check under the hood.