John White spelled out the rules for nonpublic schools receiving vouchers, and few if any will be held accountable for student performance.
Most of the students taking public money with them are in kindergarten, first and second grades, where they are not tested.
And there will be no consequences for the voucher schools if their students fail:
White’s plan requires voucher students in grades 3-11 to take standardized tests like public school students, including the LEAP exam taken by fourth- and eighth-graders take. [But not all the students in the school.]
However, unlike public school students voucher recipients will not be required to pass LEAP to move to the next grade.
Private schools will not get letter grades, which their public school counterparts do.
The Reuters story about the voucher system spells it out: Even if students fail the state tests,there will be no accountability for the private schools.
Now we begin to understand what the voucher program is about.
It is not about helping the children. They can continue to fail and the state doesn’t care.
It is not about improving public education, as the money will come out of the public schools’ budget.
It is not about accountability, as the voucher schools won’t’ be held accountable.
So what is it really about? Is it about defunding public education? Is it about “choice” for the sake of choice, without regard to the consequences?
What’s the point?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The point is private interests accessing one of the remaining sources of money “floating out there”, and dis-empowering potential opposition (financial and philosophical) .These interests (already privileged and powered, now circling their wagons and tying up loose ends) have gamed and cornered the value in our real estate, investments tied up in our pensions, health care/insurance market, real estate…the list goes on. There’s little left for them to exploit. Decent middle class jobs have been lost. Consumer power has been eroded, so spending money has already been lost. If people don’t have money of their own to spend anymore, and you (as a good patriotic wealthy capitalist) want more-where do you get it? Attack social programs and institutes that get public dollars based on public served. Pretend to provide that service, but do it in an outsourced, discount, low quality WalMart way. Preserve and protect the expensive gated enriched education for those who can afford it. The system protects itself. Low pay workers support system and provide revenue source for upper 1-2%.
Good blog about voucher’s here in my crazy state of Louisiana.
If these students from failing schools move into the unaccountable voucher schools and (eventually this leads to the failing schools being closed and all the children going to the voucher schools) then won’t the state’s overall scores on LEAP go up? Is that what they want? By removing children in need of good solid schools from the system the State will look better.
In healthcare we used to say, “the surgery was a success but the patient died!” So now the “State Succeeds but the students fail”???
Parents have been so misled. Students will suffer. Public schools will continue to do their best with less in resources and very likely more students in classrooms. Neither of those are ways to improve education and the almighty test scores.
Voucher schools have been exempted from the new “accountability” measures in Wisconsin also.
The point is: Privatize At Any Cost, No Transparency And Accountability.
All of their kids go to private schools and will be subject to any of the mad legislation they pass. In their minds the children in public schools (particularly poor and minority children) have suddenly become profitable and they will do whatever necessary to exploit them.
What’s the point? Nobody with a few exceptions who have been opposing vouchers for decades, is discussing the issue from the perspective of maintaining the integrity of private schools themselves.
Private schools which open themselves to receiving tax supported vouchers, forfeit their reason for existence what ever that may be…religious integrity, belief in separation of church and state, or whatever. This writer and a few others have contended from the nearly half a century that vouchers are the means by which the “private” will be removed from private schools, with private schools ultimately coming under regulation and requirement no different from public schools. Voucher are the vehicle to destroy private schools whether they be religious schools or seculr. I repeat: Vouchers will public-ize private schools, not privatize public schools. What givernment funds, government controls. Those parents and religious institutions who promote or go along with the concept of government funded vouchers are committing suicide re: the reasons they have to establish private schools and teach unhindered whatever is important enough for them to have established schools in the first place.
“Those parents and religious institutions who promote or go along with the concept of government funded vouchers are committing suicide re: the reasons they have to establish private schools and teach unhindered whatever is important enough for them to have established schools in the first place.”
You are correct. Many religious organizations during the founding of this country stated the same and were very strong supporters of church and state separation. Unlike those religious folk today who insist that this country was founded by christians and meant to be a christian nation. (another reason to oppose vouchers and giving public monies to religious organizations-teaching bad history).
Ms. Ravitch,
As a member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), I want to thank you for your continued efforts to inform education stakeholders across our wonderful country and beyond of the concerns related to Louisiana’s education reform. As an experienced educator of 27 years, I decided to seek the BESE position because I truly wanted to contribute to the responsible reform of our educational system. However, shortly after securing the District 3 BESE seat, I realized my voice would be muffled by a group outnumbering me whose vision is strictly that of CHOICE.
My desire is to preserve traditional public education; however, I don’t see this happening in Louisiana. My idea of reform is to identify the strengths of the education system and build from those without totally dismantling the traditonal public education system. I recognize our society is broken. Until we acknowledge the poverty, apathy, dysfunction, lack of parental involvement, and all other factors that adversely impact student learning, we will continue to struggle to improve our educational ranking at the local, state, federal, and international levels–regardless of the educational setting. We can no longer continue to bury our heads in the sand. To quote a Louisiana legislator in a letter to his colleagues, he stated, “our society is broken and we can’t fix it.” Thus, in my opinion, the blame was placed on educators and there was a rush to “fix education.”
On another note, I am so proud of the educators throughout Louisiana who exhibited professionalism despite the constant criticism heard throughout the education reform debates. I applaud our educators for their continued commitment and desire for educational excellence despite the teacher bashing that occurred this year leading up to and during the Louisiana legislative session. Television commercials aired frequently showing students banging their heads against lockers in an attempt to vilify our hardworking teachers and administrators. Despite the educator bashing, the release of 2012 test scores revealed academic improvement across Louisiana’s public schools. Imagine this! The improvement was attributed to the most recent education reforms. (Not true). For the last decade, Louisiana’s test scores have improved and can be verified via the Louisiana Department of Education website.
In closing, I will say to those in other states who want to emulate Louisiana’s education reform–BEWARE! As Ms. Raviitch and many others have communicated, where is the Accountability? Louisiana’s traditonal schools will be compelled to adhere to stringent federal and state guidelines where voucher and charter schools can exercise flexibility in curriculum, teacher evaluation, certification requirements, etc. How do we measure success when we are not comparing apples to apples or competing on an equitable field? Competition has been a resounding theme in Louisiana’s education reform debate. Imagine a football game—how fair is it for traditional schools (without the football gear) to compete with vouchers and charters who are in full game attire–helmets, etc? Who do you think stands the better chance of winning? My point, exactly! I am a voice for responsible education reform and welcome the competition as long as it is fair! THis is not the case in Louisiana and I predict it is only a matter of time before this ed reform movement will find its way to your communities.
Your commitment and voice, Lottie, even though you are, in every scenario, when it comes to the disgusting and ill formulated ed reform in Louisiana out numbered on BESE, be rest assured those of us in the trenches, are behind you. It’s a shame that another former teacher on BESE has been lured into the fold of John White and Bobby Jindal.