James Talarico grills author of private school voucher bill in committee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPnyfA5Iico

 

Formerly homeless woman in D.C. fights eviction on her own - The Washington Post

The case illustrates the myriad challenges that come after unhoused people are given a place to live, as well as the mental health and other support that is often needed to help them succeed...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/24/housing-voucher-eviction/

Airline offering a voucher? Just say no! - USA TODAY

Airlines, hotels and cruise lines are quick to push vouchers into your unhappy hands when something goes wrong and you're owed a refund or apology. ....
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/advice/2018/03/18/airline-hotel-cruise-voucher/430107002/

North Carolina’s big school voucher problem - Salon.com

A state education program’s accountability called into question....
https://www.salon.com/2017/12/26/north-carolinas-big-school-voucher-problem/#.WkM9oCBbgrU.reddit

Inside The Voucher Schools That Teach L. Ron Hubbard, But Say They’re Not Scientologist | HuffPost

Betsy DeVos wants to expand school voucher programs throughout the U.S. Get ready for that list to include schools that promote Scientologist doctrine....    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scientology-schools_us_5a2d8b9ee4b069ec48ae4109

Voucher Schools Championed By Betsy DeVos Can Teach Whatever They Want. Turns Out They Teach Lies. | HuffPost

These schools teach creationism, racism and sexism. They’re also taking your tax dollars....
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/school-voucher-evangelical-education-betsy-devos_us_5a021962e4b04e96f0c6093c

Fla. Newspaper Exposes Host Of Problems In State’s Voucher Scheme | Americans United

Last week the Orlando Sentinel ran a devastating series of articles about Florida’s voucher plan. The articles, by staff writers Leslie Postal, Beth Kassab and Annie Martin, focus primarily on the fact that private schools in the state are accepting $1 billion a year in taxpayer funds with virtually no oversight. The result has been what you’d expect: a raft of fly-by-night schools, some of which use questionable curriculum, hire unqualified staff and place children in dangerous facilities.....
https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fla-newspaper-exposes-host-of-problems-in-state-s-voucher-scheme

What the ‘Government Schools’ Critics Really Mean - The New York Times

When President Trump recently proposed his budget for “school choice,” which would cut more than $9 billion in overall education spending but put more resources into charter schools and voucher programs, he promised to take a sledgehammer to what he has called “failing government schools.” That is harsh language for the places most of us call public schools, and where nearly 90 percent of American children get their education. But in certain conservative circles, the phrase “government schools” has become as ubiquitous as it is contemptuous.....
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/31/opinion/donald-trump-school-choice-criticism.html?_r=0

Failing Charter Schools Have a Reincarnation Plan — ProPublica

Converting into private schools — and using voucher programs to thrive on the public dime.....
https://www.propublica.org/article/failing-charter-schools-have-a-reincarnation-plan#134669

Choice for most: In nation’s largest voucher program, $16 million went to schools with anti-LGBT policies | Chalkbeat

When it comes to school choice, options are more limited for Indiana’s LGBT students.

Lighthouse Christian Academy in Bloomington recently made headlines for promising students an excellent, “biblically integrated” education — unless they identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The school also received more than $650,000 in public funds last year through the state’s voucher program.....
https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2017/08/10/choice-for-most-in-nations-largest-voucher-program-16-million-went-to-schools-with-anti-lgbt-policies/

School vouchers -- Resist! (FFRF Rapid Response 1)

FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott discusses President Trump’s budget and private school voucher programs....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR-BV8piCao&feature=youtu.be

Trump And DeVos Are About To Propose Federal Funding For School Vouchers

Today marks 100 days since Michigan billionaire and school voucher proponent Betsy DeVos took over the reins as President Donald J. Trump’s Secretary of Education. If there’s one thing she’s accomplished in that time, she’s demonstrated her perseverance in pushing for vouchers....
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/trump-and-devos-are-about-to-propose-federal-funding-for-school-vouchers

With School Vouchers, Who Benefits And Who's Left Behind? Indiana's Program Offers Lessons

Wendy Robinson wants to make one thing very clear. As the long-serving superintendent of Fort Wayne public schools, Indiana's largest district, she is not afraid of competition from private schools....
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/05/12/520111511/the-promise-and-peril-of-school-vouchers?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

Spending Bill Renews Federal Voucher Program Despite New Study Showing It Harms Student Achievement

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education released a study showing that students in the Washington, D.C., private school voucher program perform worse academically than students who are not in the program. Yet, just four days later, Congress released its budget deal, which includes language to renew the program through 2019. Congress is expected to pass the budget agreement later this week in order to avoid a government shutdown.

The findings in the latest report are in line with recent studies of the Louisiana, Indiana and Ohio voucher programs – all of which also found that vouchers have negative impacts on academic achievement....
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/spending-bill-renews-federal-voucher-program-despite-new-study-showing-it

Latest D.C. Voucher Study: Program Doesn’t Improve Students’ Academic Achievement

The Department of Education just released a new study of the Washington, D.C., school voucher program. And the findings confirm what we’ve known for years: The program doesn’t improve students’ academic achievement. In fact, it has resulted in statistically significant negative impacts on student test scores....
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/latest-dc-voucher-study-program-doesn-t-improve-students-academic

Study: DC Voucher Program Shows Poorer Math Results

A federal study shows that students enrolled in a private school voucher program in the nation's capital are doing worse in math than their peers.
https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2017-04-27/study-dc-voucher-program-shows-poorer-math-results

13 Questions That Scare Charter School Advocates

The Network for Public Education is challenging the Trump/DeVos anti-public school agenda. According to NPE, “DeVos and her allies have worked for decades pushing charters, vouchers and neo-vouchers such as education tax credits. DeVos even supports virtual charter schools that have a horrific track record when it comes to student success.”...
http://www.alternet.org/education/13-hard-questions-charter-schools-promoters-dont-want-taxpayers-ask

DeVos praises this voucher-like program. Here’s what it means for school reform. - The Washington Post

“After the students leave us, the public loses any sense of accountability or scrutiny of the outcomes,” said Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of Miami-Dade County public schools. He wonders what happens to the 25,000 students from the county who receive the scholarships. “It’s very difficult to gauge whether they’re hitting the mark.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/devos-praises-this-voucher-like-program-heres-what-it-means-for-school-reform/2017/04/09/78b28f52-08f2-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.html

Betsy DeVos compares education to Uber or Lyft, but it's what's missing that's most disturbing

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos showed just how much she hates the very idea of public education in a major speech on “school choice” at the Brookings Institution. DeVos either doesn’t understand or refuses to acknowledge that if the United States is going to educate all of its kids, not just the lucky ones, we need to think about education as a public good, not a series of fragmented, privatized pieces. DeVos drew a comparison that tells us a lot about how she sees education—and what she doesn’t want to see:...
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/1648769

How voucher dollars kept coming as a private school collapsed

The Indiana Department of Education and the attorney general’s office both had been warned. 

Teachers at the tiny Todd Academy weren’t getting paid. Parents complained that classes were being held in an unsafe building without heat, and the school appeared to be promoting children who weren’t ready, in an effort to secure more state money.

Yet after two visits by the education department and an investigation by the attorney general's office, the troubled Indianapolis private school still received thousands of dollars in public funds through Indiana's school voucher program and remained eligible to receive state voucher money until it collapsed under the weight of its unpaid debts....
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2017/03/19/how-voucher-dollars-kept-coming-private-school-collapsed/97564538/