Graduation Rates Advanced by Milwaukee School Choice Research
Milwaukee Voucher Program Boosts Student Graduation Rates
Demonstrates National Trend for School Choice Programs
January 11, 2011 (Washington, D.C.) - Student participants in the Milwaukee school voucher program have graduation rates that are 18 percent higher than those of students in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), according to a new report released by John Robert Warren, an education expert and professor at the University of Minnesota.
Data gathered since 2003 show clearly the benefits of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP)-which allows students from low-income families to attend participating private schools in Wisconsin's largest city. Had graduation rates for MPS matched those of the MPCP, nearly 4,000 additional students would have graduated from 2003 to 2009. Job-related productivity from those additional graduates would have also resulted in approximately $4.2 million in additional tax revenue.
The findings from Milwaukee echo those from the voucher program in Washington, D.C. Dr. Patrick Wolf, a University of Arkansas professor was the principal investigator in a U.S. Department of Education study on the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), which last year found that graduation rates for OSP participants were 21 points higher than for non-OSP students. The program, which began in 2004, awards scholarships to low-income families in the nation's capital so they can attend the school of their choice. Despite a host of data showing that the OSP has delivered positive results, Congress has so far failed to reauthorize the program.
"It's so encouraging to see such strong performance from the Milwaukee program, where we're celebrating the 20-year anniversary of expanded educational opportunities for low-income families," said Betsy DeVos, the chairman of the American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice. "What is happening in Milwaukee isn't an outlier, and it's becoming clear around the nation-school choice works. It's no surprise, therefore, that public officials from both major political parties - in states from Florida to Pennsylvania, and from Indiana to Louisiana - are embracing broader school choice in greater numbers than ever before."
The MPCP is the longest-running school choice program in the United States. The program, which now boasts more than 20,000 participants, costs taxpayers $6,442 per student. By comparison, Milwaukee Public Schools spending is $15,034 per student, more than twice the cost of the MPCP.
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Media Contact:
Malcom Glenn, mglenn@federationforchildren.org, 202-280-1986
School choice works. It has been tried and tested.
Pennsylvania Catholic Conference PO Box 2835, Harrisburg, PA 17105, 717-238-9613, www.pacatholic.org
School choice works in Wisconsin.
Parents in Milwaukee, Wisconsin have had school choice for 20 years. Started in 1990, Milwaukee's program has grown to become one of the nation's largest, and it is by far the most prominent. Eligible low-income families may use the voucher to send their children to a participating private school within the city limits. The value of the voucher is based on a percentage of public school funding or the actual non-public school's per student costs. In 2010-2011 school year, 20,328 students are participating and attending 111 schools. The constitutionality of the Milwaukee program was upheld in several legal challenges in Wisconsin courts. In 1998, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that including religious schools did not violate the First Amendment because the program "has a secular purpose" and "will not have the primary effect of advancing religion." The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal. The Wisconsin Supreme Court also rejected a "uniformity" challenge to the school choice program. It held that while the legislature is required to provide public schooling to all, it can also offer additional educational opportunities outside the traditional public school system.
School choice works in Ohio
Program expanded school choice statewide and another program offers choice to parents of autistic students. Students who attend a public school that is in a state of "academic watch" or "academic emergency" for two of the last three years, or would be assigned to that school based on their residence, are eligible for a voucher under the statewide program. The Cleveland program has separate eligibility requirements. In the 2010-2011 school year, 13,213 students are participating in the statewide program at 273 schools. Another 5,238 students in Cleveland are also using a voucher to attend the school of their choice. Depending on a family's income eligibility, vouchers cover the non-public school's actual tuition and fees or some percentage of it. The U.S. Supreme Court also upheld the federal constitutionality of the Cleveland Program in 2002. The statewide program has not been subject to a legal challenge.
School choice works in Louisiana
Louisiana's Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program began in 2009. Low-income students in grades K-4 located in failing school districts (currently New Orleans and Jefferson Parish) are eligible for vouchers to attend the public or private school of their choice. Additional grade levels will be added in the future. In the 2010-2011 school year, 1,823 participating students are attending 32 schools. The voucher is 90 percent of the total state and local funding per student in the student's home school district or the actual cost of education in the private school whichever is less. If more students apply than the program will allow, participation is to be determined by random lottery. No legal challenges have been filed against the program. The Louisiana Constitution contains parallel language to the federal Constitution's religion clauses under which voucher programs have already been tested and upheld. The Louisiana Supreme Court pecifically noted in other case law, "The great similarity of the establishment clause of our Constitution and that of the United States Constitution allows us to use the United States Supreme Court interpretations of the federal clause as an aid for interpreting our own."