Sunday, September 08, 2013

Teachers' unions versus kids at failing schools

I'm rooting for the latter. It's beyond comprehension to me how teachers' unions could be so brazen and shameless in their attacks on school choice - particularly when it is directed at the worst failing schools (WSJ)

To recap for Mr. Duncan and his staff: Two weeks ago the Justice Department asked a federal court to enjoin 34 school districts in Louisiana from issuing vouchers under the statewide reform that passed in 2012. Only students from families with incomes below 250% of the poverty line and who attend schools graded C or lower are eligible. Ninety percent of recipients are black.

According to the lawsuit, vouchers "appeared to impede the desegregation process" by "increasing the racial identifiability" of certain schools. Incredibly, the suit objected that in some cases the departing black kids left their former schools with a student body with more white students. Meanwhile, studies from Milwaukee, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. have found that voucher recipients increase integration by letting minority children escape geographic school boundaries.
They're fighting a losing battle however, with technology giving a growing edge to parents and students but it's a battle that can't be won soon enough.

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