D.C. Voucher Program Works . . . Not So Well

by David Safier

In last night’s debate, McCain touted the successes of the Washington D.C. voucher program. He’s a big supporter of vouchers, though he prefers to call it “School Choice” and avoid the V word whenever he can. But a post on Washington Monthly’s blog, Political Animal, says, not so fast. It seems the D.C. voucher program has been less than completely successful.

First, D.C. is basically run by the U.S. government, and the voucher program came from Bush and Congressional Republicans who have been trying to jump-start vouchers for years, with little success. They decided they would field test the idea in their own little laboratory.

Well, there have been a few problems. In a 2007 story, Voucher Program Puts D.C. Kids at Risk, Study Says, the Washington Post wrote that no one bothered to check if the private schools were accredited or had proper buildings.

In a random sample of 18 schools reviewed by the GAO, two lacked occupancy permits, and four lacked permits needed for buildings used for educational purposes. At least seven of the 18 schools were certified as child development centers but not as private schools. In one case, a school was operating in a space designed for a retail store, the report says. . . . Some schools told fund officials that they had certain amenities, such as a gymnasium or an auditorium; the report says they did not.

Some of the teachers in these schools lacked bachelor’s degrees.

But all that doesn’t matter if the students excel, right? Except, they didn’t. A Post article from June of this year, Report Finds Little Gain From Vouchers, wrote that a study measured students who tried to get in the voucher program but weren’t picked in the lottery (there was limited space) against those who were picked and went to one of the private schools. After two years, the students in private schools did no better on reading and math tests than those who stayed in public schools.

The report, by the way, came from Bush’s Department of Education, not some pinko, lefty, anti-voucher group. And it reinforces another Department of Ed study that found there is no appreciable difference between the performance of students in standard public, charter or private schools.

So John, your example, like so many others you love to use either to promote your agenda or to slam Obama, doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. I’m tempted to call you a liar and a dishonorable man, but how can someone who was a prisoner of war in Hanoi possibly tell a fib or act dishonorably? That’s what you and your surrogates always say, right?

Department of shameless self promotion. I mentioned last week that I now have a weekly column in The Explorer. It just so happens, today’s column is about my objections to vouchers. As current as today’s headlines, even if I did submit it last Thursday.