Preview of Article:
“Bait and Switch”
New report pushes voucher fans to fast-talk around problems
Illustrator: Barbara Miner
For almost two decades, Milwaukee has been home to the country’s oldest and largest voucher program?a beacon of hope for voucher supporters who want to use public dollars to fund private schools. But Milwaukee has now become the latest in a string of setbacks for vouchers.
A long-awaited study released in late March found no significant difference between the academic achievement of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) students and those in the private voucher schools. In the end, the free-market rhetoric at the core of the voucher program failed education as much as it failed the economy.
The Milwaukee study reaffirmed what public school supporters had argued for years: that the problems afflicting urban schools are grounded in economic and racial segregation and the power structure’s willingness to abandon central cities because they are disproportionately populated by low-income people of color.
