Guess Who Voiced Support for Vouchers Almost a Decade and a Half Ago?

Vice President Joe Biden
(Official Vice Presidential Portrait, 2009)

One of the more disappointing educational developments we've seen since the current presidential administration took over was, of course, the ending of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program back in 2009. And though the program was reauthorized earlier this year, support and funding for the program is always perilous, and the political winds of the day often dictate whether it will be a target, despite its overwhelming success since it was enacted back in 2004.

That's in part why we've been so disappointed about the lack of response from the current crop of Republican presidential candidates to our school choice survey. Though a few have followed up and expressed interest in returning the survey, nobody has made their views public—a worrisome indication to us that we can never rest on our laurels about the future of the program.

Not only can we look to the program's recent history as evidence of the that fact, but going back a decade before reveals just how malleable our elected officials' views on school choice can be over the years.

After all, if the fight over school choice with the president had taken place 14 years ago, there might have been a bit more support at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.—or, at the very least, at the Naval Observatory.

BREAKING NEWS: Wisconsin Senate Blocks Further School Choice Expansion

Earlier this month initial steps were taken to try to prevent the further expansion of school choice in Wisconsin, despite the fact that public schools were already improving as a result of expansions earlier this year and the enrollment cap has been reached in the first year of the new program in Racine.

Now, the State Senate has passed legislation making it impossible for future expansion of vouchers in the state.

We're highly disappointed in this news for a few reasons; first, it flies in the face of polling data that shows strong support for school choice expansion into Green Bay. Second, it fails to see that the demand for school choice is there.

But third, and perhaps most important, is that we're seeing a reversal of the very political will that was so necessary to help expand school choice in Wisconsin in the first place. What's troubling is that many of the very legislators who championed budget provisions creating the Racine program also, sadly, favored this arbitrary measure that shuts out thousands of families from having access to the educational opportunities they deserve.

"Accountability is the partner of choice"

Sometimes, it's best to let someone else's work speak for itself. This is one of those times.

We've routinely stressed the importance of accountability in creating and implementing strong school choice programs. Some on the other side accuse us of being less than committed to the goal, a charge that couldn't be less far from the truth. In reality, school choice cannot work unless schools and programs are accountable; otherwise, the very parents we seek to empower are left unable to exercise the control over their children's educational futures they deserve.

Terry Ryan, the vice president of Ohio programs and policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, penned a pitch-perfect opinion piece in this past weekend's Columbus Dispatch that highlights the inextricably linked nature of these two issues.

Volunteers Next Up To Give Parents School Choice

The heavy lifting in state legislatures around the country has largely slowed, but that doesn't mean that the successes of "The Year of School Choice" are over just yet.

We told you earlier this week about the potential school choice expansion in Pennsylvania, and there are still prospects for New Jersey to pass the Opportunity Scholarship Act in the Garden State. But now, Tennessee has its sights set on giving vouchers to low-income kids to attend private schools.

The early talk of a program is taking place largely in Memphis, the state's lowest-performing large school district.  There, 30 percent of students fail to graduate, a fact that has caused State Senator Brian Kelsey to act. He has introduced a bill that would give $5,400 scholarships to students in the means-tested program, a boon for students in a city where private school graduation rates drastically outpace those of kids in public schools.

A Fiery School Choice Champion Reminds Us and Others Why We Fight

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie giving the keynote speech at our
2010 National Policy Summit in Washington, D.C.

Back before he was being mentioned as a potential candidate for president, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie keynoted our first annual National Policy Summit during the spring of 2010, where we discovered just how passionate an advocate for school choice he was. And although it wasn't a part of the recent national conversation surrounding his ultimately non-existent White House bid, school choice continues to be one of the issues for which he's most passionate.

Don't believe us? Watch a video below of Christie on a New Jersey radio show earlier this month, where the governor articulates so strongly why it's so important to try alternatives to the education status quo. The caller on the show uses a routine argument—that the problem isn't the schools, but instead issues for kids at home.

And you know what? The caller is right about part of that equation, and Christie concedes as much. Many kids who are trapped in failing schools are also the victims of a home life that lacks the amount of parental involvement they need to strive. Sometimes it's because a child comes from a single-parent household, or they're a foster child, or their parents are working so hard to "stay above water financially," as Christie puts it, that they don't have the time to stay as engaged as they'd like in their child's life.

Misleading Coverage of Pennsylvania's Proposed School Choice Expansions

Gov. Tom Corbett speaks to students at Lincoln Charter
School prior to announcing his education reform package. (AP)

Yesterday we brought you the news of the new education package from Gov. Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, a package that includes the creation of a means-tested voucher program for children in failing schools as well as an expansion of the existing Educational Improvement Tax Credit program.

We were naturally pleased to see a school choice expansion aimed at helping low-income kids, and the choice provisions have already received some high-profile bipartisan support as well as the backing of legislators in both houses.

And editorial boards from around the state have begun to weigh in, and their early reviews are mostly positive, too.

BREAKING NEWS: Pennsylvania Governor Unveils Sweeping School Choice Package

There have been whispers he was going to make a big announcement for days now, but today we finally saw what Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett had in store for his big education package, and we're pretty excited.

The four-part plan calls for the following:

1. The creation of a means-tested voucher program aimed at students in the state's worst-performing districts
2. A significant expansion of the existing Educational Income Tax Credit program
3. A commission charged with oversight of charter schools and enforcing strict accountability measures, as well as financial advisory duties
4. A plan to include student achievement in evaluating teachers across the state