Whitney Tilson's School Reform Blog: Vouchers

Below is a summary of my views on vouchers, which I posted three years ago:

I don't think vouchers are a magic bullet, but when it comes to school systems like Newark or Washington DC, I fall into the "by any means necessary" camp. Why not take one of those Newark high schools, in which 50% of students are dropping out in 9th grade and only 5% graduate, shut it down, and give every child a $10,000 voucher (HALF what is being spent now for utter failure)? I don't know for sure what would happen, but I'm quite sure the outcomes couldn't possibly be worse than what's happening now!!!

Cory Booker and supporters like E3 are essentially pushing for this right now, trying to get the Urban Schools Scholarship Act passed in the NJ state legislature, which, via corporate tax credits, would make education vouchers -- what I call "exit visas from hell" -- available to low-income families with children in failing schools. Given the state of schools in Newark, Camden, Trenton, etc., who in their right minds would oppose this, if only as an experiment?

I think voucher opponents miss some of the power of vouchers. There are four powerful arguments for them (for more on this, see my slides at: http://www.tilsonfunds.com/Personal/Voucherslides.pdf):

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