What am I missing here?
Dr. Patrick Wolf has made his reputation evaluating voucher plans in Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee, but now we see that he is speaking at a conservative think tank about the “success” of vouchers during a celebration of school choice.
He wrote an opinion piece for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune warning that the state was falling behind in providing school choice.
Can he be an independent evaluator and an advocate of school choice at the same time?
Thursday, January 31
8 – 9 a.m.
De La Salle High School
1 De La Salle Drive
Minneapolis, MN 55401
* * *
School Choice Week Events
America’s Future Foundation
School Choice Celebration
Thursday, January 31 – 5 p.m.
The Minnesota School Choice Coalition
Invites you to
A Free & Informal Breakfast
(Coffee and Pastries)
with
Prof. Patrick Wolf
Endowed Chair in School Choice and Education Reform
University of Arkansas
“School choice is a big win for
children and for the broader society”.
Read Prof. Wolf’s Star Tribune Column
As part of National School Choice Week, Dr. Patrick Wolf, one of the nation’s most respected and prolific scholars when it comes to what’s empirically – not just anecdotally – known about school choice in general and vouchers in particular, will discuss the first-rate research that continues to document the very real value of vouchers, tax credits and the like. This is especially the case with many low-income and minority students.
Professor Wolf earned his Ph.D. in political science at Harvard and did his undergraduate work at the University of St. Thomas – which was only right, as he’s a Minnesota native. He’s currently leading an evaluation of the controversial DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, and is also overseeing a national research team conducting an independent evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.
This event is free but your registration is required for planning purposes and to receive parking instructions.
Register Now!
Sponsored by
Minnesota’s School Choice Coalition
Center of the American Experiment
Diane Ravitch's blog 
His evaluations of the Milwaukee voucher program have been completely unscientific and biased. He has disputed the only accurate disability percentages (1.6% in Milwaukee voucher schools vs. almost 20% in Milwaukee Public Schools) based on his highly unscientific survey of voucher school teachers (not public school teachers) asking them if they had children with learning disabilities in their classes. He deserves no audience.
What is this? Milwaukee Parental Choice Program….choose parents or parents choose?
Isn’t opportunity scholarship the same as a voucher? Sounds like another shyster.
From the comments on the article: “A quick google search shows that Patrick J. Wolf is also affiliated with the Friedman Foundatiion (yes, started by neo-liberals Milton & Rose for the promotion of voucherising the school system), darlings of the Heritage Foundation and ALEC. Why do I see flares going off while I hear a voice yelling “Danger, Will Robinson!”?”
From the rest of the comments, it seems that aside from the usual collection of paid posters who repeat the corporate party line talking points, MN get’s it. Why do I assume they are paid posters? The talking points made are identical as are the issues. “Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is enemy action.”
Wolf received his doctorate at Harvard, where his mentor was Paul Peterson, a leading advocate of choice.
Off topic, but one of our fav edu-corporatists, the skilled non-educator himself, Bill Gates, is on Colbert tonight.
The trend of academic advocates of particular policy solutions who don’t acknowledge their own bias or self-interest in the name of “objectivity” is dishonest and troublesome. Claiming absolute objectivity (as many quantitative researchers do) and/or being less than forthcomi about being employed or courted by organizations that are clearly not objective harms the intellectual integrity of all education research efforts and often confuses what reality *is* with what we wish it was.