Obama's D.C. Voucher Pity Gift
THE ENTERPRISE BLOG
By Frederick M. Hess on education
The Obama administration has announced that it's going to see if it can get Democrats in Congress to not immediately zero out the D.C. voucher program, but to wind down funding in a manner that allows currently enrolled students to remain in the program through high school. Like a guilty teenager who wrecks the family car and then generously offers to pay for a tank of gas, the administration's proposal is insulting in its earnestness.
So far, the administration stood by while congressional Democrats put a knife in the Opportunity Scholarship Program and remained mute while the National Education Association issued a heavy-handed letter threatening any Democrat who stood up for this $12 million a year program. This, to say the least, did not bolster confidence in the administration's willingness to face down the teacher unions as it sets out to spend $110 billion in stimulus dollars to aggressively reform American schooling.
After repeatedly declaring their commitment to embracing solutions that work, the president and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan allowed this to unfold even as a rigorous, independent evaluation of the program sat unreleased on the department's shelves. The administration then released that report a few weeks later, on a late Friday afternoon, but expressed no second thoughts despite the fact that the study showed positive effects for program participants. The findings were all the more striking because the education research community has been roiled of late by the reality that most randomized field trials (of which the D.C. voucher study was one) show no results. This was particularly disappointing on the president's part because the Obama campaign scored points last year when the candidate went to Milwaukee and indicated that he was no ideologue, that he was a practical man who would be open-minded about vouchers—and that he wanted to see what the evidence showed.
Now, having rolled over on the program and shown little interest in the research, the administration is trying to score points by "battling" to wind down the program in a fashion that minimizes dislocation for enrolled students and doesn't force them back to the D.C. public schools. It's better than the alternative, but that's pretty weak praise. And the administration shows no evidence of either second thoughts, in light of the official evaluation, or concern that seeming to fold before the NEA's threat will bleed its reform credibility for the fights ahead. Finally, a particular concern is that the administration will score some quick points for this too-clever-by-half "pragmatism" while persuading pundits to look past the double-talk on respecting data, seeking out solutions that work, and putting the interests of kids before those of adults. |
