The School Voucher Illusion

The School Voucher Illusion PDF

Author: Kevin Welner

Publisher: Teachers College Press

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0807768308

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"The book sets the stage, with a discussion of the history of voucher battles, the legal dimensions, and the politics of policy change. -The book includes careful studies of the basic structure of contemporary private schooling, of the crucial Southern history of vouchers, and of the key federal court decisions that have opened the door to the explosion of state legislation described earlier. -Finally, the book includes profiles of voucher policies in two of the states that have made the largest efforts to support vouchers, as well as the only nationally funded program in the nation's capital. -Chapter authors are national experts who have produced seminal work in the field. Researchers (particularly school-choice researchers), people engaged in policy making (particularly around school choice), school administrators, and teachers"--

The School Voucher Illusion

The School Voucher Illusion PDF

Author: Kevin Welner

Publisher: Teachers College Press

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0807781703

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This authoritative book examines the long-standing campaign that resulted in today’s school voucher policies. Advocates of private school vouchers promulgated a vision of service to low-income families, students of color, and other marginalized student populations. Vouchers were sold as a way to advance civil rights. But as voucher policies grew in size and became an element of Republican orthodoxy, they evolved into subsidies for a broad swath of advantaged families, with minimal antidiscrimination protections. The approach also transmuted into forms like education savings account programs and vouchers funded through tax-credited donations. In this book, scholars and national experts untangle this complex story to show how law and policy have aligned to dramatically alter the likely future of American schooling. They offer recommendations for modifying current policies with the goal of capturing more of the originally stated vision of voucher programs—equitable access to quality schooling, protection of all students’ civil rights, and advancement of the wider societal goals of a democratic educational system. Book Features: Shows how a fast-growing policy is transforming education in the United States in ways that are very different from how that policy was sold to the public. Sets the stage with a discussion of the history and legal dimensions of voucher battles, as well as the politics of policy change. Examines the basic structure of contemporary private schooling, the Southern history of vouchers, and the key federal court decisions that have opened the door to an explosion of state legislation. Offers profiles of voucher policies in two states that have made the largest efforts to support vouchers, as well as the only nationally funded program in the nation’s capital. Edited by three scholars with extensive experience in the study of school choice, with chapters by national experts who have produced seminal work in the field.

Reign of Error

Reign of Error PDF

Author: Diane Ravitch

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2014-08-26

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 0345806352

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From one of the foremost authorities on education in the United States, former U.S. assistant secretary of education, an incisive, comprehensive look at today’s American school system that argues against those who claim it is broken and beyond repair; an impassioned but reasoned call to stop the privatization movement that is draining students and funding from our public schools. In a chapter-by-chapter breakdown she puts forth a plan for what can be done to preserve and improve our public schools. She makes clear what is right about U.S. education, how policy makers are failing to address the root causes of educational failure, and how we can fix it.

The Illusion of Public Opinion

The Illusion of Public Opinion PDF

Author: George F. Bishop

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13:

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In a rigorous critique of public opinion polling in the U.S., George F. Bishop makes the case that a lot of what passes as 'public opinion' in mass media today is an illusion, an artifact of measurement created by vague or misleading survey questions presented to respondents who typically construct their opinions on the spot. Using evidence from a wide variety of data sources, Bishop shows that widespread public ignorance and poorly informed opinions are the norm rather than definitive public opinion on key political, social, and cultural issues of the day. The Illusion of Public Opinion presents a number of cautionary tales about how American public opinion has supposedly changed since 9/11, amplified by additional examples on other occasions drawn from the American National Election Studies. Bishop's analysis of the pitfalls of asking survey questions and interpreting poll results leads the reader to a more skeptical appreciation of the art and science of public opinion polling as it is practiced today.

No Child Left Behind and the Illusion of Reform

No Child Left Behind and the Illusion of Reform PDF

Author: Thomas Stewart Poetter

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13:

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No Child Left Behind and the Illusion of Reform highlights the scholarship of eight doctoral students in curriculum and their professor, who took on the legal, political, philosophical, social, cultural, economic, and curricular assumptions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This book, the manifestation of their work, is a critical examination of the impact of the NCLB on the lives of children, families, and teachers; and the elusive, but powerful, dynamic found between the rhetorical machinations of the law and the ideological touchstones that dominate the American political terrain. This book openly challenges the law with arguments founded on solid research, scholarship, and data. No Child Left Behind and the Illusion of Reform argues that this law is not only a bad idea for children, but also for teachers, parents, schools, and communities because it undermines good teaching through an over-emphasis on testing and measurement. NCLB also pits schools against each other in a competition for limited resources. The book argues that the law sets impossible goals, which further and unnecessarily defeat and deflate the institution of public education.

Lessons from the Heartland

Lessons from the Heartland PDF

Author: Barbara J. Miner

Publisher: The New Press

Published: 2013-08-06

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1595588647

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“Miner’s story of Milwaukee is filled with memorable characters . . . explores with consummate skill the dynamics of race, politics, and schools in our time.” —Mike Rose, author of The Mind at Work Weaving together the racially fraught history of public education in Milwaukee and the broader story of hypersegregation in the rust belt, Lessons from the Heartland tells of a city’s fall from grace—and its chance for redemption in the twenty-first century. A symbol of middle American working-class values, Wisconsin—and in particular urban Milwaukee—has been at the forefront of a half century of public education experiments, from desegregation and “school choice” to vouchers and charter schools. This book offers a sweeping narrative portrait of an all-American city at the epicenter of public education reform, and an exploration of larger issues of race and class in our democracy. The author, a former Milwaukee Journal reporter whose daughters went through the public school system, explores the intricate ways that jobs, housing, and schools intersect, underscoring the intrinsic link between the future of public schools and the dreams and hopes of democracy in a multicultural society. “A social history with the pulse and pace of a carefully crafted novel and a Dickensian cast of unforgettable characters. With the eye of an ethnographer, the instincts of a beat reporter, and the heart of a devoted mother and citizen activist, Miner has created a compelling portrait of a city, a time, and a people on the edge. This is essential reading.” —Bill Ayers, author of Teaching Toward Freedom “Eloquently captures the narratives of schoolchildren, parents, and teachers.” —Library Journal

Public School Choice Vs. Private School Vouchers

Public School Choice Vs. Private School Vouchers PDF

Author: Richard D. Kahlenberg

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13:

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In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the constitutionality of public funding for private religious schools, the debate over private school vouchers has intensified. This volume is a compilation of articles, papers, and discussions on public school choice and private school vouchers.

Publicly Funded School Voucher Programs

Publicly Funded School Voucher Programs PDF

Author: Nathan A. Benefield

Publisher: Universal-Publishers

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 1581121164

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This study provides a policy analysis of publicly funded school voucher programs. This research provides an analysis of voucher programs in Cleveland and Milwaukee and of political, legal, and programmatic constraints facing voucher programs. A synopsis of student test score analyses and parental surveys provides a basis for analyzing the effect of programs on participants. A survey of 30 individuals working with the Cleveland and Milwaukee public schools or voucher programs clarifies the effect of the programs on the overall educational environment. A review of financial data from the programs, pending legislation, national poll data, and court rulings provides an understanding of the policy constraints facing voucher programs. The research indicates that school vouchers have positively affected student participants' academic achievement and finds that public schools have adapted to the competitive impact of vouchers by initiating reforms aimed at improving schools. While the analysis indicates that legal constraints still loom over voucher policy, school vouchers have become politically and programmatically viable as a policy alternative. The study concludes that vouchers programs are a beneficial and, pending legal outcomes, practical policy alternative.

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