Florida's school voucher programs harm students

Here are some facts about Florida's voucher program:

Vouchers siphon over a billion annually away from public schools.

Teachers at voucher schools don't have to have degrees, be certified and can have serious criminal records. 

They don't have to have a recognized curriculum and many teach junk science an false history.

Most of them don't have to report how they spend the money they receive. 

There is zero academic accountability that the state requires for public schools.

John Kirtley Florida's voucher king, is also a major donor to republican candidates for which he has been greatly rewarded. 

Now there is evidence that students who receive the vouchers are harmed by them.

From UVAToday:

A new study from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education finds that low-income children or children enrolled in urban schools do not benefit more from enrolling in private school between kindergarten and ninth grade.

“Despite the arguments in favor of the use of vouchers or other mechanisms to support enrollment in private schools, ostensibly as a way to help vulnerable children and families access a quality education, this study finds no evidence that private schools, exclusive of family background or income, are more effective for promoting student success,” said Robert C. Pianta, dean of the Curry School of Education and co-author of the study.

Although children with a history of enrollment in private schools performed better overall, the advantages of private school education were not present for low-income students or those enrolled in urban schools.

This study contradicts the rationale behind U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ efforts to promote greater access to private schools, primarily through the administration’s earmark of more than $1 billion in the federal budget for private school vouchers and other school choice plans.

“The assumption that private schools are more effective in educating students and producing higher levels of achievement behavior is demonstrably ineffective and potentially harmful,” Pianta said. “In order to enable more low-income students to succeed and close achievement gaps, we must support comprehensive education reform of our public school system.”


Our there some private schools that accept vouchers that  do a good job? The truth is I and nobody knows because there is zero accountability. 

Friends, what are we doing, other than dooming a large swathe of children to a substandard education in order to placate republican super donors?

And for you fiscal conservatives isn't it time we either made sure the money was well spent or we ended the program?

Come on friends, we should be doing much better than this and our children deserve it.

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