Letter to the Editor: In response to ‘No vouchers, city school board says’
Murfreesboro Post
February 8, 2016
The truth about vouchers is that they provide Tennessee students and families quality options, which is particularly important to those students assigned to schools that are not meeting their needs.
We must give parents the opportunity to use their tax dollars as they see fit. With the power of vouchers like those proposed in Tennessee and working in other places across the US such as Milwaukee and DC, parents can hold schools accountable for meeting their children’s needs.
Vouchers also improve educational outcomes for children. Take, for instance, the nation’s longest running voucher program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Students in this program tested 9 to 12 percent higher in math, reading and science compared to their equally disadvantaged peers. They also graduated at an 18 percent higher rate.
DC’s voucher program has also proven powerful in improving education for low-income children for over a decade, with more than 90 percent of voucher students graduating from their schools of choice (a graduation rate at least 30 percent higher than DC’s traditional schools!), and 88 percent going on to enroll in two- or four-year colleges. The average annual income for families who receive opportunity scholarships is less than $22,000, and approximately 98 percent of DCOSP students live in zoned neighborhood schools designated as in need of improvement.
Tennessee has the opportunity – and an obligation — to help its neediest students by empowering parents with school vouchers that would provide access to quality education options.
Jeanne Allen is founder and president emeritus of The Center for Education Reform in Washington, D.C.
