Frustration is at a high level among those who operate Florida’s largest school choice organization – and it should be.
An incredible bit of media malpractice is taking place in this state.
Two recent events provide strong evidence that school choice is beneficial to students, and to government schools.
But the liberal media, which is beholden to the Democrat Party, which is beholden to the rich and powerful teacher union bosses, has ignored the evidence instead of reporting the news.
Ron Matus, writing in RefinEd, notes that a rigorous study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that as America’s largest private school choice program grew, so did positive impacts on Florida’s public schools.
In addition, the latest College Board report on Advanced Placement ranks Florida No. 3 in the percentage of graduating seniors who have passed college-caliber AP exams, even though it has a higher percentage of low-income students of any Top 10 state but one.
Matus called the blackout “not a surprise but … still a shame.”
Since vouchers and charter schools came along some 20 years ago, thousands of poor, mostly minority children have been afforded the same opportunity those from more affluent families always have had.
“Progressives” have fought this progress all the way.
They have claimed falsely that the vouchers “drain money” from the government schools, causing them to become worse.
Instead, the studies show, students in Florida government schools saw higher test scores, fewer absences and fewer suspensions. Jacksonville schools are among those that have benefited from the changes. In the past few years the district has gone from a C grade to a B.
Yet one of the largest newspapers last year proclaimed a “death sentence” for government schools from an expansion of school choice.
In other words, continuing to throw money at government schools is more important to them than educating children.
To opponents, inputs – the amount of money spent – are all that count. Outputs — results — don’t matter.
Florida newspaper continue to ignore steady increases in the state’s test scores and other metrics since Florida began demanding choice, standards and accountability.
Rather than focusing on the improvement, they continue to make the ridiculous claim that “vouchers hurt all,” as one recent headline proclaimed.
Ignoring solid evidence that vouchers help all makes the headline writers, reporters and editors look foolish and is likely to add to the decline in readership newspapers are experiencing.
