Florida voucher students learning no more, no less than public school students, study shows

Florida students using corporate tax credit vouchers to attend private schools are making about the same academic progress as their peers in public schools, according to the results of a long-awaited studyobtained by the Gradebook this morning.

Depending on the spin-o-rama we all know is coming, the results either show that 1) vouchers have failed to deliver improved academic success, or 2) voucher kids are doing just as well as public school kids at far less cost to taxpayers.

The report, authored by former University of Florida economist David Figlio, compared the test score gains of voucher students vs. similar students in public schools. Voucher students do not have to take the FCAT, but legislation passed in 2006 and signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush required that they take a comparable standardized test so comparisons could be made. Figlio used test results from 2006-07 as a baseline to compare against results from 2007-08.

At a first glance, Figlio’s findings do not appear to be a direct hit for either side. And Figlio, now at Northwestern, urges caution because of technical considerations: “Because the retroactive 2006-07 test score collection was imperfect, it will be necessary to wait until the collection of 2008-09 scores before one can determine whether program participants’ gains are larger, smaller, or about the same as public school students’ gains.”

But Figlio’s secondary findings do put a dent in one of the arguments advanced by voucher critics – that vouchers will hurt public schools by cream-skimming the best students out. In fact, the opposite appears to be true. Writes Figlio:

“Program participants are more likely to come from lower-performing public schools prior to entering the program. In addition, they tend to be among the lowest-performing students in their prior school, regardless of the performance level of their public schools.”

We’ll post more results and reaction soon.

Ron Matus, state education reporter

*

Comments

[heather]

NJ TAXES, HIGHEST IN THE NATION.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNRy8DPAmec

[terminator]

8:55
the political winds have been shifting in case you didn't notice.
The far right wing Republican agenda is being repudiated at every level of government (federal, state and local).
This will begin to trickle down to the Florida general election in 2010. Not only will the make-up of the Cabinet be radically different but R's will begin to lose numbers of seats in the House and Senate and with that my friend.....support for voucher programs we have been discussing.
Then you've got that pesky problem of recently released reports showing no major student gains for charter and voucher students.
Face the facts my friend, the jig is up and it will be a downhill slide from here on in for you guys.

[Fed Up With Inaccurate Numbers In The Press]

My Dearest Termie,

Let's say that you are the Senate President or House Speaker in 2010. You are trying to balance the budget, made worse, as you point out, by the class size amendment. Hmm...you say I can save a quick $100 million by expanding the tax credit scholarship program? And I have 100% of the Republican caucus (minus Dennis Jones and Villalobos) and 50% of the Democrat caucus (yes, that's right) behind the idea? What do you do?

I'm afraid, my friend, as it has been many times in the past--your political compass is a little off.

As for Ms. Sink, she might want to read the press coverage of the New Jersey Governor's race. The Republican is gaining endorsements from Black and Hispanic leaders because of his support for school choice. Democrat incumbent Corzine parrots the union line that "vouchers drain money from public schools". Meanwhile Newark and Camden spend over $20,000 per kid and graduate less than half their students. The Newark Mayor and the Camden City Council (unanimously) support vouchers. Check out the story (shown below) in the New York Times. Sink is one smart lady. She's going to let McCollum peel off minority voters from her on this issue like in New Jersey? For what? The FEA endorsement? I don't think so.

New York Times
June 19, 2009
Christie Aims at Democrats Unhappy With Poor Schools
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
He’s white, he’s conservative, and his support is strongest in New Jersey’s suburbs, where the public schools include some of the nation’s best.

Yet Christopher J. Christie, the Republican candidate for governor, is hunting for votes in cities like Newark, Camden and Trenton, where Democrats routinely pile up big margins, but where black and Hispanic parents are increasingly running out of patience with the public schools, among the nation’s worst.

A battered economy, rising unemployment and tax increases are expected to be the major focus of this year’s campaign for governor, as Mr. Christie seeks to oust Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

But what could emerge as the sleeper issue is Mr. Christie’s push for education reform: merit pay for teachers, more charter schools, and above all, vouchers as a way to give poor and minority children better educational choices and create competition that would improve the public schools.

Fighting for education reform also allows Mr. Christie, whose party affiliation is a liability in blue-leaning New Jersey, to align himself with Democrats. In Washington, Education Secretary Arne Duncan is encouraging charter schools and merit pay, using federal stimulus money as a lever.

“It’s an issue whose time has come,” Mr. Christie said in an interview. “When a Republican candidate for governor is advocating the same thing as President Obama’s secretary of education, who’s out of step? I think Jon Corzine’s out of step.”

Mr. Christie said that he did not expect to carry any heavily Democratic cities. But he is gambling that school choice has become popular enough among urban blacks and Latinos that he can cut into their support for Mr. Corzine, who opposes it.

The strategy, not without risk, is inspired in part by history: In 1993, lackluster minority turnout helped Christie Whitman defeat Jim Florio, another unpopular Democratic incumbent.

Michael DuHaime, Mr. Christie’s top strategist, said that merely holding down Mr. Corzine’s margins in urban areas could be decisive. “You’ll know if we won on election night not by how much we win Ocean and Sussex by,” he said, naming Republican strongholds in the outer suburbs, “but how much do we lose Hudson, Essex and Camden by.”

A rift within the Democratic Party has created the opening for Mr. Christie, with the powerful teachers’ union, the New Jersey Education Association, and its allies — Mr. Corzine chief among them — arrayed against a small but potent cadre of urban lawmakers, ministers and community and tenant activists.

Democrats who have broken with the union include Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark; Raymond J. Lesniak, an influential state senator from Elizabeth; Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, the party’s state chairman; George E. Norcross III, a South Jersey power broker; the Rev. Reginald T. Jackson, longtime head of the Black Ministers’ Council; and Martín Pérez, founder of the Latino Leadership Alliance, an umbrella for dozens of groups and hundreds of churches.

They have joined with conservatives to push for a voucher program in the eight cities in the state that have the worst schools. Their pet bill would let businesses direct part of their state taxes to scholarships for needy students in those areas to attend private or parochial schools.

Allies of the teachers’ union repeatedly blocked the bill from moving out of various committees. But last year, its proponents said, they won a promise from Barbara Buono, the chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, to allow a vote if they gathered support from a majority of the 15 members on her panel.

They eventually did. But on March 5, Ms. Buono — who is vying to be Governor Corzine’s running mate as lieutenant governor — said things had changed and there would be no vote, according to several people who attended a testy meeting with her that day.

“Why do you want to do this to the governor?” she said, according to three people in the room. (Ms. Buono, in an interview, denied ever promising to let the bill come up for a vote, and called the voucher program too expensive.)

This week, Mr. Jackson and the Black Ministers’ Council sent questionnaires to Mr. Corzine and Mr. Christie asking about school choice, the voucher bill and related issues. Mr. Jackson is scheduled to appear with Mr. Christie at a Camden high school on Monday. And he has told people privately that if he does not endorse Mr. Christie outright, he might sit out the election and encourage others to do so.

Mr. Pérez, of the Latino Leadership Alliance, is less coy. Four years ago, the alliance endorsed Mr. Corzine. But he called Mr. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, “probably the best United States attorney we’ve ever had,” and described Governor Corzine as well-intentioned but “ineffective.” He said education reform, including school choice, was his top concern.

“It’s a tossup right now,” he said of the alliance’s endorsement.

Democrats in Mr. Corzine’s corner scoffed at such talk, saying that voters do not choose a governor based only on school choice. Mr. Corzine is preferable on many other issues dear to minority voters, they said, and they questioned whether Mr. Jackson or Mr. Pérez would actually abandon the Democratic candidate.

“I don’t think any real leader tells anybody to sit out an election,” said Bonnie Watson Coleman, the Senate majority leader, who represents Ewing, just outside Trenton.” Of Mr. Jackson, she said, “At the end of the day, I think he stays where he is.”

As he tries to exploit Democratic disunity, meanwhile, Mr. Christie faces risks, primarily in antagonizing the 200,000-strong teachers’ union.

In the 2001 governor’s race, the union helped the Democrat, James E. McGreevey, persuade voters that Bret D. Schundler, the Republican candidate, wanted to rob the public schools of some $600 million. Bill Pascoe, who managed Mr. Schundler’s campaign, said the union’s phone banks and army of canvassers deeply wounded the Republican.

Still, Mr. Pascoe said, the gambit holds potential for Mr. Christie.

“If he takes Reginald Jackson or Cory Booker to the worst school in Newark, and they do a photo op and Chris Christie says, ‘Fifty years ago, Democrats stood in the schoolhouse doors and told little black kids you can’t go in; today Democrats tell little black kids you can’t get out’ — then, you’ve got an issue,” he said.

[terminator]

2:02
No, it won't be (a death knell) because we have the monopoly (you don't).
But you'd like to be where we're at. Problem is, we're not going to let you.
As class size kicks in more and more money from GR will have to be dedicated to public schools (which means less for you shleps).
When Sink gets elected you know she'll drive the stake through your heart.
Enjoy it while you can but if I were you I'd get my resume out pretty quick.
Maybe the Jebster can find a place for you at the Foundation. I'm sure the Walton Family won't mind throwing him a few hundred thousand for some useless, over the hill former DOE legacy office ed policy hacks!
Can you tell me what you've accomplished lately?

[Termie Truth Squad]

Termie,

We stay up at night just thinking of you.

We have no idea what you mean by this: "once class size kicks in during the 2010-2011 school year, you guys are going to be SCREWED!" Perhaps you could enlighten us.

Also, your statement "the recent reports showing no gains in charter and voucher schools are a death knell for the programs" is incorrect--the kids did show gains that were equal to a public school comparison group that had higher incomes. So if the gains are the same, won't it mean the death knell for public schools too? Especially when we're paying three times the cost for the same results?

Hugs and Kisses,

[terminator]

1:22
boy, you sure are burning the midnight oil or just getting back from the bar.

if corporate scholarships aren't vouchers tell me why no DOE staffers were ever allowed to use the "V" word during Jeb's eight years as Gov?

you would like to think the argument is preposterous but the proof is in the pudding. Crist hasn't lifted a finger to change class size and won't.

that's ok. after next year we'll have you guys exactly where we want you.
once class size kicks in during the 2010-2011 school year, you guys are going to be SCREWED!

the recent reports showing no gains in charter and voucher schools are a death knell for the programs.

[Termie Truth Squad]

Termie,

A tax credit is not a voucher. Just saying it is does not make it so. A voucher is a direct payment from the state Treasury, like McKay Scholarships, the Voluntary Pre-K program, Bright Futures or FRAG. The money involved in the tax credit program never reaches the state treasury, so the Bush v. Holmes case cannot apply.

As for the conspiracy theory about a secret deal between Crist and the FEA, that laughable argument speaks for itself!

We're always here for you,

[terminator]

5:01
they are vouchers and highly unconstitutional.
FEA has a tacit agreement with Crist to not sue if Crist didn't attempt to dismantle the class size amendment.
that's your quid pro quo and the only reason this program has been allowed to exist.

[Fact Checker]

CM,

The state paid for the report. Not voucher advocates or opponents. There are no limitations on the data placed on Figlio. Zero.

[Termie Truth Squad]

Termie,

Just one problem--tax credit scholarships aren't vouchers, and they aren't unconstitutional. If the FEA thought they could win the suit, they would have filed it long ago. Even with a lawyer as good as Ron Meyer and a state Supreme Court as bad as Florida's, they can't win.

As for your question: "if you're not actually IMPROVING student outcomes what exactly are you accomplishing?"
The kids on scholarship improved as much as a public school comparison group that has higher incomes. So what are YOU doing for three times the cost?

Affectionately Yours,

[CM]

The spin is already in the report. Voucher supporters paid for the research. They paid for the report. The best that they could get was "the students did as well as their PEERS (other poor and low performing students)." A REAL research paper (made nearly impossible because of barriers put on the data by Jeb and his minions) would show that the voucher students probably did WORSE. Period. End of story.

It is ironic to me that the same wack jobs that would argue for "freedom" and "choice" for poor people as it relates to schools scream ENTITLEMENT and SOCIALISM when it comes to healthcare, housing or food.

[Julia]

While I do support vouchers in certain circumstances, I think some big questions need to be answered here. Even though the kids in this were lower performing were they ESE or receiving other services such as Speech, Language, OT or an aide in the room? These things add to the cost of educating our children. They are greatly needed as well. My one child has autism spectrum behaviors (not enough for an autism label but still some symptoms) and requires some of these services. It's one reason I would never put him in private school-the resources simply are not there.Keep in mind,public school has to take all children and try to educate them.For that, I a grateful.

[terminator]

truth squad:
just one minor little inconvenience. Vouchers violate the Florida Constitution as the FSC has already ruled.
Of course, that's just a minor speedbump for you anti-public school, anti-government zealots.
And if you're not actually IMPROVING student outcomes what exactly are you accomplishing?
Oh, forgot, greasing all of the right wing privitization advocates who bankroll your wingnut ideas!

[constance]

Keep in mind that the state actually paid for these results. This was the BEST that the researchers could come up with to support the Republicans. There is no spin necessary about the conclusions. If I paid for a study about vouchers and this was the best they could do for me, I would want my money back.

[Termie Truth Squad]

Hey Termie,

Quantify this.

Per the report, the learning gains of the kids on scholarship are the same as low income kids in public schools.

There are 2.6 million total kids in the public schools.

Half the public school students are on Free or Reduced Lunch.

So if we had no legislated cap on this program, 1.3 million kids could participate in it.

Taxpayers save at least $3,000 per year every time a kid joins the program ($3,950 maximum scholarship vs. $6,900 FEFP). We actually spend over $9,000 per kid in high poverty schools, but let's be conservative.

So if all 1.3 million FRL kids were given the right to be on the program and took it, it would save taxpayers $3.9 billion every year (1.3 million kids times $3,000 per kid).

Now we know we could save roughly $4 billion without impacting academic results, since the learning gains are the same.

So why are taxpayers paying an extra $4 billion a year?

Gee, I wonder how Termie will quanify this one?

Never forget, Termie--we're always here, waiting for your comments.

[terminator]

gee, I wonder how Jeb's hacks in the legacy office at DOE will quantify this one?

[Tests]

Dear HS Teach,

2008-2009 was the last year public school kids had to take the Stanford 10, which is the same test that roughly 75% of the scholarship kids take. Most of the rest of the scholarship kids take the Iowa Basic Skills, which is easy to compare to the Stanford. So at least for this report, the comparisons are good. However in the future it will be more complicated as there is no longer a nationally norm referenced aspect of the FCAT.

[HS Teach]

I don't understand the idea that voucher students are "not required to take the FCAT" but "required to take a comparable test". If VALID comparisons are to be made, shouldn't the kids on vouchers be taking the same test as the kids they're being compared to?

[Julia]

E=MC2- yes, each property tax paying citizen in Pinellas pays around $700 for schools. However, not every household has a child, plus lottery and other taxes (the extra penny tax in Pinellas)pays for education.Per student funding average for Pinellas is $6860. It would cost me around $5000 to send my child to my church's private school. So, in that sense it is a savings of close to 2K. I will say that I love my child's school enough where even if offered a voucher, I wouldn't take it. Her school is more technologically advanced than my church's school and the physical buildings etc... are in better shape. I love my church's school but it lacks certain things that public school has. A voucher is a nice option for some one like my sister who is very unhappy in her zoned school and hasn't won any of the lotteries for fundamental/magnet.

[E=MC2]

The ½ the cost rhetoric is bogus. The average citizen in Pinellas is taxed about $700 a year for PC Schools. The average voucher (taken from public education funds) is $1300.00. I say we all go on vouchers, collect the $1300, give $1000 back to public education (which will equate to an approximate 30% increase in funding)… and bank the extra $300 as a tip!

Vouchers equate to corporate welfare at the expense of public education… and this report proves it.

[Victor]

now.. are the underperformers doing as well as teh underperformers in public schools, are doing as well as an average kid? If its as well as an average kid, then they've obviously increased...

Either way, since there is no decrease, parents should be free to put them where ever they want, provided they meet certain benchmarks and tests..

[Stephen]

@Focus on the kids:

If by "what they could do with more", you meant "what they could do with twice the money that they would be spending on them in a public school", then the answer is already proven. The majority of the kids in this situation were unerperforming in the public schools before, so why would they do any better to go back into public schools?

What the preliminary numbers tell me is that privately run educational programs deliver the same or better education as public schools, but at a fraction of the cost. That doesn't mean that everybody is now going to be calling for the end of the public school system, but it will make more people stop and think (hopefully). It's another example of how just throwing money at something that is run by a government-entity is not always the best idea, since they are proven time and time again to be ridiculously inefficient.

It's a lesson that should especially be considered these days, as governement (both Republican and Democrats, so don't bother party-bashing, since they're all very similar under he covers) continues to propose new and grandiose ways to spend our country into oblivion.

[Huh?]

Wow. So the poorest and poorest performing kids are doing just as well as public school kids at half the cost? What does that do to the credibility of the constant call of "we need to spend more"?

[Focus on the kids]

I hope this doesn't lead to a call of "let's save $10 billion on public education and farm it all out." These are the poorest kids and we should give them the resources they need to excel. If they can keep pace with public school kids at 50 cents on the dollar or less, think of what they could do with more.