The release last month of initial research reports on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) provided a wealth of information. I welcome these reports and the dozens that will follow in the next several years.
The reports are part of a five-year longitudinal study directed by some of the nation's most knowledgeable scholars in the subject of educational choice. The study team includes University of Wisconsin professor John Witte. University of Arkansas professor Patrick Wolf directs the team. Officials from the Milwaukee Public Schools participated in developing the study design.
The reports are available at www.uark.edu/ua/der/SCDP/Research.html.
Here are some highlights:
Academic achievement and attainment: The reports establish baseline information only on issues of academic achievement and attainment. Some observers have reached unwarranted conclusions about this information, with one headline proclaiming "The Failure of Vouchers."
The researchers caution at several points that this "is only a snapshot in time and cannot be used as evidence of any effect on MPCP participation on student achievement." Such conclusions can only come from future reports that will measure changes in achievement.
Fiscal impact: Taxpayer support for students in the MPCP is a maximum of $6,501 per pupil, compared with per pupil spending in the Milwaukee Public Schools of $11,885. Net taxpayers savings - $24.6 million in 2006-'07 - are unevenly distributed among taxpayers.
� Those who pay state income and sales taxes, as well as property taxpayers in school districts outside the City of Milwaukee, benefit. Ending or curtailing the MPCP would increase their taxes.
� There is an adverse impact on Milwaukee property taxpayers. While Mayor Tom Barrett and Rep. Jason Fields (D-Milwaukee) advanced a bipartisan plan to end this "funding flaw," Milwaukee legislators on the Wisconsin Legislature's powerful Joint Finance Committee helped block the Barrett-Fields plan.
While I understand the political realities associated with the way the program is funded, I believe every child in Wisconsin should receive the same amount of money to support their education. It should not matter whether they are in a traditional public school, a charter school or participating in the MPCP.
Parent and student satisfaction: Both MPCP and MPS parents report levels of satisfaction above the national average.
� The majority of parents - MPCP and MPS - cite educational quality as the primary reason for choosing a school. Teacher quality and safety are also high priorities.
� A majority of MPCP parents are "very satisfied" with what is taught at their children's schools, school safety, what their children have learned, and information received from teachers about student progress.
� Fewer MPCP parents are worried about weapons in the schools their children attend.
� More MPCP parents feel that fighting in schools their children attend is not a serious problem.
� Most Milwaukee parents make active school choices, with 77.9% of MPCP parents, and 74.1% of MPS parents saying their children attend their first school choice. When MPS parents were asked why they did not apply to the MPCP, only 1% cited a lack of information about MPCP schools. These results are at odds with a widely publicized report issued last year. Using no data from Milwaukee, it said most Milwaukee parents did not make well-informed choices and often accept "default" school assignments.
Participating schools: A substantial majority of schools in the MPCP have music, art, and after-school programs. Seventy percent offer personal tutoring. In addition:
� Twenty-nine percent of teachers at MPCP schools have master's degrees, compared to 43% in MPS. Teachers at MPCP schools are more likely to have more years of teaching experience than their MPS counterparts.
� MPCP schools have an average student-to-teacher ratio of 13.6, compared with 16.6 in MPS.
Students: The estimated average household income of MPCP parents is $23,371. While the majority of students in private schools that participate in the MPCP are minorities, MPCP schools are less segregated racially than MPS.
MPCP schools serve disabled students. An extensive survey of MPCP parents showed that 8.7% have children with special needs. Private schools are less likely than MPS schools to label students with mild disabilities as special needs students. More than two-thirds of MPCP schools offer programs for students with learning problems. MPCP opponents for years have claimed that schools in the MPCP serve few, if any, such students.
I remain totally committed to the value of providing low-income and working-class parents in this community with the ability to choose the best educational environment for their children. If we are smart, we will end the battle over the MPCP and work together to take advantage of the best practices that exist in our various systems of learning in this community. The future of our children and our city depends on it.
Howard Fuller is director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University, and chair of the national BAEO board.
From the March 9, 2008 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Original Story URL:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=725877