Rhee Watch - July 8 Part 2

By Jim Stergios
July 8th, 2008

In DC and pick up a paper and it is all DC Public School Chancellor Michelle Rhee, all the time. We hear a lot of talk about a new era in education reform in Massachusetts, but during the Romney administration the focus was not there and during the first two years of the Patrick administration there have been backward steps, moving of some boxes (Board of Ed, creation of a Secretary of Education, etc.), but no real action.

Compare that to the urgency of Mayor Adrian Fenty and Chancellor Rhee. In the WaPo today, there is an op-ed by Margaret Spellings calling for the continuation of the DC voucher program (also supported by Fenty and Rhee, who care less for party and more for the kids).

Signed into law by President Bush four years ago, the program is the first to provide federally funded education vouchers to students. It awards up to $7,500 per child for tuition, transportation and fees; in 2007-08 it enabled 1,900 students from the underperforming Washington public school system — the highest total yet — to attend the private or religious schools of their choice.

Results?

An independent study of the program released last year confirms this parental satisfaction… The IES study reported academic gains in reading by three student subgroups, totaling nearly 90 percent of all students. They gained the equivalent of two to four extra months of learning. An IES report last year found increased math scores among some of the same subgroups.

This is especially impressive when you consider that nearly all of the participating students are from families that are at or below the poverty line; the average income of participating families is $22,736, only $2,000 above the poverty level for a family of four. Ninety-nine percent of the children are African American or Hispanic. Many escaped poorly performing public schools, where they worked below grade level in a city that has struggled for years to educate its young.

Some in Congress (many of whom send their kids to private schools) are still opposing the program. Spellings notes:

If Congress were to discontinue funding for D.C. opportunity scholarships, 86 percent of the students would be reassigned to schools that did not meet “adequate yearly progress” goals in reading and math for 2006-07. We cannot allow that to happen. Fortunately, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee share my enthusiasm for reform. It’s an exciting time for education in Washington. The three-sector approach enjoys strong support among District residents. It has been a catalyst for innovation. It may also inspire other cities to develop their own scholarship programs.

If Congress (R & D) tends to be all talk, Fenty and Rhee show what local public leaders can do. And fast.