06.03.14 Daily News Clips - afternoon edition

June 3, 2014: AFC Daily News Clips – afternoon edition

Good afternoon:

All eyes are on the Yellowhammer State. No, not on the $6.8 million Nick Saban will make next season but on the $1 million+ the Alabama Education Association is spending to elect anti-education reform candidates. Tips/stories we’ve missed or should highlight – don’t hesitate to send me an email or tweet. And, if you have ever trouble viewing this on your phone, you can always view or clips online.

Stay tuned for tonight’s results!

Matt

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Tweet of the afternoon:

@redefinEDonline Fact checking the fact checkers: @PolitiFactWisc misreads WI voucher research http://goo.gl/fbWXmM by @PatrickRGibbons #edchoice

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Louisiana Federation for Children

Educating Louisiana featuring LFC’s Ann Duplessis http://vimeo.com/95571451

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School Choice News

Redefined: PolitiFact Misreads WI Voucher Research http://bit.ly/1l3H26M

Heartland: Wisconsin Imposes New Regulations on Voucher Schools http://bit.ly/1m8AkZW

Watchdog: Feds Consider Joining School Choice Game http://bit.ly/1nawHWR

Alton Telegraph: School Choice for Parents Offers Alternative to Adult Focused System http://bit.ly/1jPihGQ

The Daily Signal: Universal School Choice: A Reform for the 21^st Century http://dailysign.al/1oTtrSI

Cincinnati Enquirer: School choice group sues CPS, Springfield http://cin.ci/1knA7qe

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Charter Schools News

EdWeek: Rural Charter Schools Face Special Challenges http://bit.ly/1nM70PF

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Is this Satire?

Huffington Post: School Choice is UnAmerican http://huff.to/1kAYxLW

_________________________________________ 

Matt Frendewey

National Communications Director

American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice

@mattfrendewey @SchoolChoiceNow | 202-280-1978 (O) |

www.federationforchildren.org | www.allianceforschoolchoice.org

11.25.13 Daily News Clips

Tweet of the Morning:

@PEFNC Not sure if you are eligible for NC Opportunity Scholarships? Here is a great tool, the eligibility calculator! http://bit.ly/187gVWx 

American Federation for Children

PARENTS SHOULD CONTROL THEIR CHILD'S EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS, NOT FEDERAL BUREAUCRATS

http://federationforchildren.org/articles/856

The Advocate: Former school voucher foe heads pro-voucher group

http://theadvocate.com/home/7564929-125/former-voucher-foe-heads-pro-voucher

Journal Sentinel: Republican Jessie Rodriguez elected to Assembly for 21st District

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/republican-jessie-rodriguez-elected-to-assembly-b99144203z1-232608671.html

  

Jessie Rodriguez Wins 21st Assembly District Seat in Wisconsin

By Matt Frendewey

Voters in the 21st Assembly District seat had two very clear choices to choose from as their next representative: Community activist Jessie Rodriguez or nonprofit fundraiser Elizabeth Coppola. 

Voters chose Jessie Rodriguez. 

Why does this matter?

Putting Power in the Hands of Parents

Parent choice was the topic of conversation this week as Fox news analyst Juan Williams joined “The Jerry Bader Show” on WTAQ 1360AM in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

“This is really about kids,” said Williams. “This is about making sure the best education possible is available to our kids, no matter where they’re born, no matter who they are, no matter if they come from a single parent family. We as Americans need to do a better job of focusing on what goes on in terms of educating our children because we are falling behind in competition with other countries,” continued Williams. 

“It’s a global economy and our kids have to be prepared if we want to be the best.”

Williams talks about taking the politics out of education.  He said the focus needs to be placed on students and achieving success in the classroom, not on “maintaining the status quo of bad schools.”

Williams was the keynote speaker at the Americans for Prosperity Foundation's Academy Series on School Choice in Green Bay on February 7th.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, KMS

Milwaukee Voucher Program Enrollment Hits New Record

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is reporting that a record-breaking number of students are participating this year in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Nearly 25,000 students are attending the private school of their parents’ choice thanks to the nation’s longest running voucher program.

These enrollment numbers join a host of other school choice programs enrolling more students than ever before:

• Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program: 9,324
• Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship: 48,938
• Louisiana’s Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program: 4,944
• Ohio’s Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program: 1,544
• Wisconsin’s Racine Parental Choice Program: 500 (the cap for the program’s second year)
• Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: 24,941

Make sure to look for the Alliance for School Choice's 2012-13 Yearbook, to be released in January, which will have all the latest data on each of the 32 publicly-funded private school choice programs around the country.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

Victories for Educational Choice

Across the country, Democrats and Republicans who support expanding educational choices win elections

Voters in the 2012 elections sent a clear message: they were going to support candidates who stand for educational options and strong reforms.

The American Federation for Children and its affiliated organizations endorsed more than 180 candidates who won their elections.  But beyond the Federation’s election work, education reform played a strong role in this year’s elections.

Here are the highlights from the 2012 elections:

• Georgia voters pass Amendment 1 to the state constitution, which will allow a key charter school authorizing committee to allow more charter schools to operate in the state.  Thanks to voters in Washington, the state became the 42^nd state to allow charter schools, beginning the trend toward creating strong educational choice in the Evergreen State.

• Indiana elected Mike Pence—a strong supporter of private school choice—to the Governorship.  While serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Pence supported the only federally-funded voucher program for students in Washington, D.C.

• All of the 10 candidates running in general elections in Arizona that were endorsed by the American Federation for Children won on Tuesday, including Rep. Kimberly Yee (R) and Rep. Barbara McGuire (D), both of whom won state senate seats.

• In Florida, a strong bipartisan coalition was elected or reelected with a mandate to expand educational options, including Representatives Bruce Antone (D), Cary Pigman (R), and Katie Edwards (D) and Senators Darren Soto (D) and Kelli Stargel (R).

• Tennessee voters elected a bipartisan coalition of members from the across the state, including Rep. John Ragan (R) and Rep. Tim Wirgau (R), as well as Dr. Steve Dickerson (R), who won a state senate seat. 

• In Ohio, House Democrats Bill Patmon and John Barnes were reelected, and in Wisconsin, Senator-Elect Rick Gudex provided a key victory by defeating Sen. Jessica King, who routinely criticized educational choice and Gudex’s support for it in candidate forums, thereby helping to flip the Senate and give a majority to educational choice supporters in the chamber.

 - American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

Measuring Parent Power Because Parents Know Best

How do you measure the success of education policy?  Education policymakers have used high school graduation rates, college graduation rates, proficiency exams, per-pupil funding, and many many other measures.

Thanks to the Center for Education Reform, we can add a new one: the measure of parental options.  In its Parent Power Index, which measures states based on several elements of power” charter schools, private school choice, teacher quality, transparency, and online learning.

Measuring the education by access to educational options is a great way to measure how a state has reformed its education, since parents know best.

Not surprisingly, nine out of the top 10 states on the index are states with robust private school choice programs.  Ranking first is Indiana, which in 2011 enacted the Choice Scholarship Program.  In its second year, more than 8,500 students are going to a school of their parents’ choice thanks to the voucher program.

Also ranked in the top 10, Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.—all home to strong private school choice programs from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, both of which boast high graduation rates.

Check out the Parent Power Index to see how your state ranks and how private school choice programs mean more parental power.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

Meet Aaron

Aaron, 16, has received a scholarship through the Milwaukee Parental Choice program since he was in Kindergarten.  He considers himself very fortunate because he attends a school where he gets pushed to do better and is constantly motivated.  His Chemistry teacher in particular constantly gives Aaron a heavier load work “because he knew I could do it."  Aaron’s parents applied for Aaron and his sisters to participate in the scholarship program because it gives Aaron and his siblings the opportunity to attend a private school they could otherwise not afford.  Aaron says attending private school keeps him out of trouble and provides more than academic knowledge: it teaches him how to be a better man, something Aaron talks about at home every day.

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program was enacted in 1995 and serves more than 23,000 students.  Independent research has demonstrated a higher graduation rate for participating students.  Parental satisfaction surveys also demonstrate high support among parents. 

Meet Raunel

Raunel, 15, is starting his sophomore year at Shoreland Lutheran High School thanks to the Racine Parental Choice Program.  Since started receiving his scholarship last school year, Raunel has improved in English, earned his way into the Honors Study Hall, and joined the AV club. 

“Last year, I learned right away that the teachers were willing to help me if I had any questions. So I asked questions,” Raunel said.

The Racine Parental Choice Program was created in 2011 and modeled after the highly-effective Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.  Raunel is one of 500 students participating in the program—the cap on the number of students allowed to participate.  Beginning next school year, the enrollment cap will be removed, allowing more children in Racine to attend the school of their parents’ choice.

Despite Inconclusive Audit Results, Impact of School Choice Programs Remains Strong

Despite a state audit of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) released this week that could not conclude how the voucher schools impacted state scores for the program’s participants—in part due to a recent change in state testing requirements—overwhelming evidence still shows strong benefits from participating in voucher programs.

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program requires that all students in grades 4, 8, and 10 who participate in the program take a nationally normed standardized test. The School Choice Demonstration Project, which conducts a gold-standard, independent evaluation of the program, found earlier this year that students participating in the Milwaukee voucher program show gains in academic achievement and are more likely to graduate from high school and enroll and subsist in college.

The independent evaluation's results showed that vouchers students were more than 7 percentage points more likely to graduate from high school than students in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).  Studies also show that a majority of parents with children in the program would rate their child’s voucher school with an “A,” compared to only 34 percent of MPS parents.  In particular, “MPCP parents are most satisfied with what is taught in school, school safety, and the amount their child has learned.”

Dr. Patrick Wolf, the principal investigator of the School Choice Demonstration Project and lead researcher on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, said the following about the Legislative Audit Bureau’s inconclusive results:

"We pointed out, ourselves, that it was difficult to untangle the academic gains from the Choice Program from any boost they might have received by switching to a high stakes test. Still, the evidence is clear that participants in the Choice Program graduated from high school, enrolled in four-year colleges, and persisted in college at significantly higher rates than did comparable MPS students. This finding of higher educational attainment in the Choice Program, which is ignored in the Audit Bureau report, is important because higher levels of attainment are closely associated with a host of better life outcomes for individuals and society. The fact that private school choice programs boost educational attainment has been established by every study that has examined that question, in the District of Columbia, New York City, and Milwaukee."

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

Racine Showing Strong Support for Scholarship Program

In its first year, 228 students are participating in the Racine Parental Choice Program, which was created in 2011 in the Wisconsin state budget that also expanded the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.  As many as 500 students will be able to enroll in the program next year, and beginning in 2013-14, the enrollment cap will be removed.

The Journal Times reports that already 470 students have applied for vouchers for the next school year, leaving only 30 coveted scholarship slots still available, according the state Department of Public Instruction.   

Enrollment for the program is open from May 1-7.  Families can apply for the program by contacting and applying to one of the 12 participating schools.

Students must live in the Racine Unified School District and have a family income below 300 percent of the federal poverty guideline to participate in the program.  Priority is given to students who qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program.

If more than 500 students apply for the program, the lottery system will determine scholarships awards.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

Putting Politics Aside for Wisconsin Students: Representative Jason Fields (D)

Fields speaks during the 2012 Black Alliance for Educational Options
Symposium, at a lunch hosted by the American Federation for Children.

“The focus of our debate needs to be on improving educational quality - in our public schools and in our private schools. My hope in supporting the choice program has always been that families will one day be able to choose between several quality choice schools as well as high-quality public schools.”

The past year has seen Wisconsin become the nation’s hot spot for partisan fighting, with protests in the state house and harsh words and recall threats from both sides of the aisle.  But a few legislators have been able to stay above the fray. One of them is Representative Jason Fields, a Democrat in the Assembly whose district encompasses most of Milwaukee. He's crossing traditional party lines to stand up for children and build a strong bipartisan coalition in support of school choice.

“Improving quality needs to be the focus of our efforts to reform education in the state of Wisconsin…by increasing the standards we set for the institutions charged with the important responsibility of educating our children.”

Fields is a Milwaukee native and a graduate of Milwaukee Lutheran High School.  A former stock broker, financial advisor, and banker, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2004 and is serving his fourth term in office. Representing Milwaukee, Fields has stood up for multiple school choice initiatives, supporting both the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (which benefits many of the families living in his district) and the Wisconsin Special Needs Act, which is currently moving through the state legislature.

Why Wisconsin Needs the Special Needs Scholarship Act

The Wisconsin Special Needs Scholarship Act, Assembly Bill 110, was passed out of the Assembly Committee on Education last week on a 7-4 vote.  And the Senate Committee on Education is considering the Specials Needs Scholarship Act as well.

Successful passage and enactment of the Special Needs Scholarship Act would be just the latest in a surge of school choice programs for special needs students around the country. There are currently 10 private school choice programs across the nation for children with special needs. They operate in eight states—Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah, with two programs in both Arizona and Ohio.  At the beginning of the 2011-12 school year, nearly 30,000 students were enrolled in the programs.

In the Senate hearing on Tuesday, more than 30 parents and children testified in support of this bill.  While the Committee has not yet voted on the measure, Committee members listened to more than five hours of testimony.

Just one of the many parents to testify, Sally Schaeffer, mother of Lydia, spoke at yesterday’s hearing in support of this important legislation.  Read parts of her testimony below for the inspiring story of why the Badger State needs the Special Needs Scholarship Act.

Data Snapshot: Wisconsin

With the release of the Alliance for School Choice's School Choice Yearbook 2011-12 (available for download here), we'll spend the next few days on School Choice Now! highlighting some of the new data and research it contains.

The Badger State had two victories in 2011, a major contributor to making “The Year of School Choice” such a success.  Not only did Wisconsin expand the longest running school choice program in the nation, but it created a second voucher program modeled after its Milwaukee Program.

2011 Results

• Number of School Choice Programs: 2
•  Total Number of Students: 23,426
• Total Number of Participating Schools: 114

Milwaukee Parental Choice Program

The nation’s longest running voucher program, this program began in 1990!  It’s been expanded and strengthened over the years—and 2011 was no different.  In the biennial budget, signed by Governor Scott Walker, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program was expanded by

• Removing the cap on the number of student participants
• Permitting schools across the state to accept program participants
• Expanding the program to benefit children from middle-class families
• Ensuring that participating families can remain in the program regardless of future income growth

2011-12 School Year Data Update

• Scholarships Awarded: 23,198
• Schools Participating: 106
• 2011 Expenditures: $144,300,800

    Growth in Student Participation

Racine Parental Choice Program

Wisconsin’s newly created voucher program, the Racine Parental Choice Program is modeled off the highly successful Milwaukee Program.  This program allows students living in the Racine Unified School District to attend the school of their parents’ choice.

2011-12 School Year Data Update

• Scholarships Awarded: 228
• Schools Participating: 8
• 2011 Expenditures: $1,546,100

    Growth in Student Participation

2012 Outlook

Wisconsin is still fighting to create even more options for students.  In 2012, we can expect to see movement on a special needs voucher program and voucher expansion to Green Bay.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

Charter School Expansion Taking Shape in Wisconsin

Wisconsin had one of the most remarkable years when it came to school choice, and things aren't done for the Badger State.

Yesterday the Wisconsin Finance Committee advanced important legislation that would significantly expand charter schools across the state. Here are the details:

The legislation (SB 22/AB 51), which passed the committee on a 12-3 vote, creates a state charter school authorizing board that can approve new charter schools in Wisconsin. 

The American Federation for Children, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Milwaukee Charter School Advocates, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and Wisconsin Charter Schools Association, have advocated for the charter school expansion throughout the 2011-12 legislative session. 

“We applaud SB 22’s authors for introducing this legislation and working with community leaders on strengthening it,” said Brian Pleva of the American Federation for Children. 

The first AFC-supported amendment allows operators of high-performing charter schools that are located in school districts with otherwise low graduation rates to more easily create more high-quality public charter schools. 

“We believe that when public charter schools like Milwaukee College Preparatory School and Bruce Guadalupe Community School have already demonstrated success,” said Brian Pleva of the American Federation for Children, “the legislature should be helping them create more high-quality classrooms for students.”

You can read the full release here. We'll be sure to keep you updated as the legislation advances.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MAG

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.

The Will of the People: How the Green Bay Packers Serve as a Model for Education Reform in their Community

Opponents to school choice in Green Bay earned a victory earlier this year (and no—we're not talking about the Packers; at least not yet) when the Wisconsin state budget that passed with sweeping school choice expansions failed to include a proposed voucher expansion into Green Bay. Still, even without measure, significant expansions in Milwaukee and Racine made 2011 one of the most successful years for school choice since the original inception of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program over 20 years ago.

But what wasn't lost on us was the fact that the legislature failed to act democratically for a city that is so predicated upon democratic ideals.

We mentioned the Green Bay Packers somewhat in jest, but the reality is that the Super Bowl Champions are a perfect example of how the people play a role in determining the operations of their town. Unlike any other major professional sports team in the United States, the Packers are publicly-owned by the people of Green Bay. They even have annual shareholders meetings just like any other publicly-traded company. Put simply, the people of the city have an unprecedented amount of control in determining the outcomes of their lone professional sports franchise.

It's unfortunate, then, that those people don't have the same say in their educational system.

We told you last month about the strong support for school choice expansion among the people of Green Bay and Racine, and yet, despite that support, the Racine voucher program was stuck with a remarkably low cap (that was, not surprisingly, reached relatively quickly) while Green Bay residents are not able to take advantage of vouchers at all.

Now, opponents are taking an additional step to forego the will of the people, working to eliminate any possibility that private school choice could reach Green Bay—despite the fact that the people want school choice in their community.

One-Fifth of America's Chief Executives Convene for NBC Education Summit

There were many opinions under one tent (literally) at this week's Education Nation Summit, the second annual event hosted in New York City on Monday and Tuesday by the folks at NBC. It sometimes made for a few odd exchanges—like, for example, when reform-minded Michelle Rhee shared the stage with AFT President Randi Weingarten. Reason TV captured a portion of that conversation, as well as a few other highlights from the summit, in the video below:

School Choice Transparency is a Worthy Commitment—But Only if Info is Honest

A new measure was recently adopted in Milwaukee that will separate the portion of property tax levies citizens pay for the city's flagship Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). Referred to by some as a "voucher tax," the argument from those who pushed to have the MPCP portion broken out is an interesting one. Because a small percentage of education funds to go schools participating in the voucher program, they say, it amounts to a "tax" on residents because it does not directly fund schools that are part of the city's struggling public school system.

Not only is the nomenclature misleading, but the the motivations behind the measure are not to make the tax code more transparent, as many of its proponents have alleged. Instead, they aim to imply that the existence of the voucher program is costing residents more money when, in reality, it's actually saving them significant sums.

Supply and Demand in Wisconsin

Back in the late spring, as lawmakers in Wisconsin were determining the extent and scope of a proposed expansion of vouchers in the state budget, we joined with our friends at School Choice Wisconsin to do what is sadly becoming something of a novel approach in politics, despite the fact that it should be standard procedure.

We asked the people what they thought.

While opponents to school choice made claims about why expansion wouldn't be good for the community, they never thought (or decided not) to ask citizens their opinion. But we did, and what we heard wasn't surprising.

Our poll showed that majorities in both Racine and Green Bay supported expanding the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program to their cities, with the proposal earning strong support across ideological lines. And among parents with children who would stand to benefit from school choice, almost two-thirds supported expansion.

So it was curious to us when the final measure included in the budget failed to expand choice to Green Bay and placed an arbitrary 250-student cap on first-year enrollment the Racine program.

Fast forward three months, and you can now see why we were scratching our heads.