Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcy
Just look at the successful voucher program in Washington DC that Obama, the supposed defender of poor and minorities, canceled against the pleas of many parents, instead caving into teachers unions.
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According to
the Washington Post, the Department of Education concluded after a 3 year study that the voucher system found limited gains in reading and no significant progress in math. It may have been popular, but that doesn't mean it was effective. Since this article was in May 2009, the study and its results were probably from before Obama took office.
My personal suspicion is that the voucher system and charter schools may be the educational equivalent of the placebo effect. The parents who take their kids out of the system because they are concerned about the effectiveness of standard public schools are sending a message to their kids that they are important, and that their education is important, and the parents probably spend more time with the kids on things like their homework, all of which probably motivate the kids to work harder/do better. I don't have any children, so it's hard for me to judge the results of these things.