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August 2, 2006
A rose by any other name still smells like vouchersKudos to USA Today's DeWayne Wickham for cutting through the fog in this column. As BoardBuzz reported last month, new legislation in the House and Senate would make "opportunity scholarships" available to students from public schools deemed to be in "restructuring" under NCLB. Wickham asserts, "Don't be fooled by these options. Opportunity scholarships is a euphemism for school vouchers. It's an attempt to mask a bad idea with an appealing label."
Wickham has rarely minced words on this issue, once notably referring to vouchers as the "fool's gold of education reform."
He also notes the irony, as did BoardBuzz, in the introduction of the private school legislation within days of the U.S. DoE study showing public schools performing as well as or better than private schools in math and reading.
Wickham sums up by saying
Public schools, on the other hand, must try to educate a vast cross section of this nation's youngsters. So instead of trying to deflect attention from the failure of states and the federal government to give public schools what they need to meet this challenge, voucher proponents offer them empty promises. This latest one is called "opportunity scholarships."
NSBA recently sent this letter to the U.S. House and a similar one to the Senate regarding the new legislation.
Posted August 2, 2006 10:57 AM | Privatization & Choice
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