DON'T WRITE VOUCHERS OFF

Vouchers are more successful than ever. A recent referendum loss in Utah should be weighed against the many victories vouchers have achieved across the nation. Consider:

• Since 2000, vouchers have had their greatest period of legislative success; of the 21 school choice programs that exist, 12 were enacted in the past eight years, and the fastest growth has been in the past three years.
• Moreover, 10 existing programs have been expanded in the same three years; vouchers have never been more successful in state legislatures than right now.

As to the quality argument, most high quality research finds that private schools produce better academic achievement. Ten studies of voucher programs found that students using vouchers to attend private schools outperformed their public school peers on standardized tests. The results in eight of the studies reached a high degree of statistical certainty, says Enlow.


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