Milwaukee voucher school program

Instead of mandating a single test, policymakers should allow parents and schools to choose from a variety of nationally norm-referenced tests. The court also affirmed the conclusions of Davis v. Grover , N. Jackson v. Benson , Wis. On December 23, , the U. There were no findings of wrongdoing related to the voucher program. Howard Fuller, the former superintendent of public instruction in Milwaukee. Fuller recently wrote an introduction to an article explaining how competition from vouchers in Milwaukee spurred public school reform.

And a Harvard University study shows that students who take vouchers get a better education than they would have received if they had remained in public schools. Each of these will be discussed below. In February , the Wisonsin Legislature issued a comprehensive audit of the program.

Here is the Wisconsin Legislature's summary of the audit with a link to the full report. The facts in this audit refute the claim of voucher opponents that parents will choose bad private schools, that all of the schools will be religious schools, that the private schools will not offer quality education programs, and that private schools will not open in inner city neighborhoods.

The Wisconsin Legislature's report noted the following:. In an introduction to an April article on how the Florida Voucher Program spurred numerous public school reforms, Dr. Fuller detailed his experience in Milwaukee. The full article including Dr. Fuller's introduction is here , and other information about the Florida voucher program can be found here. He concludes that " providing parents with additional options increases the responsiveness and accountability of public schools, and serves as a crucial impetus for public school reform" Here are some additional excepts from his introduction:.

They also complained that Travis Moore has regularly employed teachers without bachelor's degrees — the state requires teachers at voucher schools to have degrees — while employing family members with dubious job titles and responsibilities.

Travis Moore and Brinson did not return calls for comment for this article. In previous interviews, they confirmed a handful of family members were employed but declined to produce a full roster of staff members' names, job titles and salaries. According to the results of an on-site review of the school by the Wisconsin Religious and Independent Schools Accreditation this fall, all the teachers' credentials at Travis Tech and Travis Academy checked out.

But the agreement with DPI stipulated she could not be present during the review or participate in it. But Brinson and Travis Moore appealed the decision and signed an agreement with the state in October that outlined steps they'd have to take to continue in the program.

The agreement called for surety bonds from both schools to be secured by Dec. The DPI typically requires such bonds of schools that are financially unstable, so that if they shut down midyear, the state can recoup taxpayer money.

Travis Moore has said it was unfair to require such bonds of her schools because they were not financially unstable. While the operators were unable to obtain the bond for the high school by the deadline, they did obtain the bond for Travis Academy, according to DPI Spokesman Thomas McCarthy. That means Travis Academy may continue business as usual in the voucher program.