Voucher study comes under question

An article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently went through the plans for Georgetown University to study Milwaukee's School Choice Program. In the article concerns are raised about whether or not the research will be biased. Turns out they have good cause to be concerned.

One of the donors is going to be the Walton Family Foundation. This foundation has been trying to get voucher programs going around the country and has put millions of dollars into that goal. Here is what the People For the American Way found about the Walton Family Foundation efforts:

Through the Walton Family Foundation, Wal-Mart heir John Walton is one of the voucher movement's most prolific donors, providing a steady stream of money for almost every element of the movement, from think tanks to political campaigns. On the policy and research front, the Walton Foundation funds pro-voucher think tanks like the Goldwater Institute and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. On the legislative front, John Walton personally contributed $2 million to the failed 2000 Michigan voucher initiative as well as $250,000 to California's Prop 174 in 1993, another unsuccessful voucher initiative. Walton also bankrolled the California effort through his American Education Reform Foundation30, as well as an unsuccessful 1997 voucher campaign in Minnesota.

Hmmm, do you think they are going to let a study come out saying that vouchers aren't the best thing since sliced bread? I doubt it.

There is another concern as well. This study has been rejected in the past because participationon by the voucher schools is not mandatory. Let's see, which schools are going to volunteer to be in the study? The good ones. And which ones will refuse to participate? The bad ones with something to hide. This will hardly give an accurate look at the voucher schools. It's the same problem we have now with this program. Bad schools aren't forced to give out information on how they are doing and are allowed to hide for too long. Why spend millions more putting that down in a long report?