The WSJ has an excellent editorial today on the teachers unions assault on vouchers. Highlighted is Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle's refusal to expand a successful program.
A 2004 study of high school graduation rates by Jay Greene of the Manhattan Institute found that students using vouchers to attend Milwaukee's private schools had a graduation rate of 64%, versus 36% for their public school counterparts. Harvard's Caroline Hoxby has shown that Milwaukee public schools have raised their standards in the wake of voucher competition.
Of course, the quality of educational opportunities a state provides pales in comparison to placating teachers unions.
What the Milwaukee and Florida examples show is that unions and their allies are unwilling to let even successful voucher experiments continue to exist. If they lose one court case, they will sue again--and then again, as long as it takes. And they'll shop their campaign cash around for years until they find a politician like Jim Doyle willing to sell out Wisconsin's poorest kids in return for their endorsement. Is there a more destructive force in American public life?
If only teachers unions were as obsessed with education to the degree they are obsessed with Wal-Mart and self-preservation.
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