Fact-Checking Gov. Rendell and Bill Cosby

This afternoon. Gov. Ed Rendell, school superintendents, and Bill Cosby held a press conference on improvement in Pennsylvania test scores, and calling for funding increases. Unfortunately, they got a number of facts wrong:

• While state test scores have improved, there are questions about how difficult the state test is. The PSSAs are a much lower standard of performance than the nationwide NAEP exam - inflating the "proficiency rate" by 80%. As a result, students are graduating high school (yes, even many that fail the PSSAs) without being adequately prepared for college or careers. Furthermore improvement has little to do with increased spending, as Gov. Rendell claims.
  

• I hate correcting the venerable Dr. Cosby, nonetheless, his statement that we spend "only $4,000 to educate children" underestimates actual spending by Pennsylvania school districts by 70%. The average per-pupil spending is actually over $13,000. Normally, I might let this factual error go...but polls show many people underestimate what we spend on education, and when they have the facts correct, their support for spending increases wanes. Perhaps Bill Cosby is among those, and had he realized what Pennsylvania is really spending, would not in Harrisburg advocating for more.

• In response to a question - perhaps predicated on our noting that school districts have 2.4 billion in reserve balances, the superintendent of Otto-Eldred school district made the claim that school districts can only keep a max 12% reserve - this is factually incorrect. The limit only applies for schools when issuing new debt. In fact, at the end of the 2007-08 school year, 237 school districts - more than half - had fund balances greater than 12%, including the Otto-Eldred district, which has $2 million in reserves or 21% of their spending.
  

• Cosby and others repeated the refrain, "no more cuts" - yet no one is proposing cuts, but debating how much more funding. The Senate budget would increase school district support by 12% over last year's. Nor have Pennsylvania schools ever had funding cut.

I was also disappointed in the lack of mention of the role of parents in education. In fact, the superintendent who spoke , after mentioning Bill Cosby's book Fatherhood, told the students in the attendance that there were "Two role models...teachers...and celebrities like Mr. Cosby." While I have the utmost respect for both teachers and Bill Cosby, failing to mention parents (which I have to say I was fully expecting) seemed odd. But it was consistent with the lack of discussion of parental choice in education which is a huge part of Pennsylvania's test score improvement.

"Special Needs" Status Tied to Warped Incentives

Marcus Winters and Jay Greene from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research have released a study that shows that offering disabled students special education vouchers reduces the likelihood that public schools will identify students as disabled. This counters counters a Progress Policy Institute in the past has said that special education vouchers exacerbate the over-identification problem by creating an incentive for parents to have children diagnosed with a disability in order to obtain a voucher.

However, Winters and Greene contend that the financial incentives facing public schools are such that public schools tend to identify more and more students as disabled. There are finacial incentives in place to shift more students into special education because the schools get more subsidies for each student classified as disabled. Also, school staff normally control the process of identifying students as disabled, not the parents.

Nearly one in every seven students nationwide is now classified as having a disability. That’s 63 percent more than three decades ago. The reason for this is that public schools get additional subsidies when they shift students into special education, but if the students are eligible for special education vouchers, they risk having those students walk out the door with all their funding.

How States Can "Race to the Top" on Education Performance

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent editorial on education funding and performance, as well as the unions' take on the "race to the top" initiative:

All of this is on top of the education spending boom during the Bush years to pay for the 2001 No Child Left Behind law. Democrats liked to claim that law was “underfunded,” but the reality is that inflation-adjusted Education Department elementary and secondary spending under President Bush grew to $37.9 billion from $28.3 billion, or 34%. NCLB-specific funding rose by more than 40% between 2001 and 2008.

It’s also worth noting that the U.S. has been trying without much success to spend its way to education excellence for decades. Between 1970 and 2004, per-pupil outlays more than doubled in real terms, and the federal portion of that spending nearly tripled. Yet reading scores on national standardized tests have remained relatively flat. Black and Hispanic students are doing better, but they continue to lag far behind white students in both test scores and graduation rates.  ...

Charter schools and voucher programs regularly produce better educational outcomes with less money. But as long as most education spending goes to support the status quo, Race to the Top will be mostly a case of political show and tell.

This is the same issue we are facing at the state level, where Gov. Rendell, Pennsylvania House Democrats, and the PSEA insist that the $28.2 billion available to school districts (including $2.4 billion they have been given but haven't spent) isn't enough, but $600 million more will solve all their problems. All the while, Rendell and his allies continue to back the status quo in education to carry the teachers' union agenda, while opposing greater school choice or removing costly mandate like prevailing wage laws, as we discuss in a recent commentary "Who's For the Children?"

More Dollars is Not Producing More Scholars

A new report from the Math Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia on Pennsylvania school performance (specifically the 11th grade PSSAs) across school districts finds that:

• Demographic factors (residents with bachelor's degrees, percentage of minority students, percentage of low-income students) are correlated with academic performance.
• Instructional expenditures per-pupil was not significantly correlated with academic performance.
• Total spending per-pupil was negatively related to academic performance.

These latter two findings might shock the Rendell Administration - or at least undermine their rhetoric - as they continue to make claims that higher taxes will improve student learning.  But we've noted this trend on many occassions.

In questioning the "costing out study", we remarked on the failure both of high spending districts and of dramatic school spending increases to improve performance. A recent ALEC report finds a similar lack of effect on spending and performance at the state level. And in Edifice Complex, we examined the lack of link between performance and spending, and noting that the way school districts spend money - increasingly on buildings - was certainly one reason for the failure of more dollars to produce more scholars. 

But that is not to say performance is solely defined by demographics.  Indeed, as Matt Brouillette and Andy Lefevre point out, where Pennsylvania has shown improvement, it is largely due to increases in choices for parents and students.  Other recent studies show that vouchers in Milwaukee and Washington DC have improved student learning, and a number of studies show that public schools improve with choice.

And perhaps most importantly, in constrast to Governor Rendell's spend more, get less agenda, schools of choice costs less than traditional public schools.

Fact Check: School Choice Saves

As the "Tax You More" lobbying tour continues its journey Matt Brouillette continues to offer the real facts on state education spending. Today's education fact focusing on how school choice saves taxpayer money and provides quality education.

The $75 million Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) is currently a 75-90% tax credit for businesses that contribute to a non-profit scholarship or educational improvement organization.

• The EITC provides $44.7 million in K-12 scholarships for low-moderate income families, $8 million in pre-K scholarships, and $22.3 million for aid to “innovative” educational initiatives.
• In the current school year, 44,000 students are receiving EITC Scholarships.
• Since 2001, 244,038 students benefited from a better or safer school through the EITC.
• The EITC saved taxpayers over $500 million in the 2007-2008 school year alone.
• The average EITC Scholarship is $1,100, compared with average school district spending of $13,300 per-pupil n 2007-08.
• If the EITC were to be cut and scholarship opportunities reduced, many students would be forced backinto high-cost public schools, resulting in higher property taxes.
  

Taxpayers saved approximately $3.622 billion from other school choice options in the 2007-08 school year.

• Charter schools saved taxpayers $80.03 million in the 2007-08 school year. 45,560 students were served at an average savings of $2,589 per student.

• Cyber charter schools saved taxpayers $94.14 million in the 2007-08 school year. 19,715 students were served at an average savings of $4,775 per student.

• Private and nonpublic schools saved taxpayers $3.15 billion in the 2007-08 school year. 260,000 students were served, with an average savings to taxpayers of over $12,000 per-pupil.

• Home schooling saved taxpayers $297.5 million in the 2007-08 school year. 22,316 students were served at virtually no cost to the taxpayers.

Budget Facts 2009: State Education Spending (click here for a printable version)

Philadelphia Limits Choices for School Children

Brad Vasoli has a troubling article in The Bulletin about how the Philadelphia School District is trying to limit the enrollment of charter schools in the district.  District officials claim that their interpretation of the law is that they have the power to do so.

Luckily, the school district does not interpret the law, the courts do.  And just last year, the Commonwealth Court ruled that the Chester Upland school district could not limit the enrollment in charter schools.    The official ruling states,

In the context of the Charter School Law then, a charter is not a contract, but a grant of power for the board of directors of that school to establish a school to provide public education to school-age children. Consequently, the Empowerment Board did not have authority pursuant to Section 693(1) of the Public School Code to limit charter school enrollment. 

Just like McDonald's is not allowed to limit the amount of folks that can eat at Wendy's, school districts have no authority to limit enrollment in charter schools. This issue issue is not simply about battles between competing schools, but about limiting the choices available to Philadelphia familes. 

Saving School Choice (and Savings of School Choice)

Great new video from ReasonTV on the DC Voucher program, and the threats to eliminate it, despite a US Department of Education report that it helps improves student learning and the fact that it costs less than public schools.



Meanwhile, today in Harrisburg we celebrated the 8th Birthday of the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC).  The $75 million tax credit for business provides $53 million for scholarships ($44.7 million for K-12 students and $8 million for pre-K) and $22.3 million for educational improvement programs. The REACH Foundation has more info on the EITC

Hundreds of students served by the EITC attended both to celebrate the program, and to voice opposition to fears it may be cut in the current budget.  This despite the fact the the EITC services 44,000 students with scholarships averaging little over $1,000, compared with the per-pupil costs of over $13,000 per pupil in traditional public schools.  Even when factoring state subsidies for private schools (i.e. books and transportation), the EITC saves taxpayers over $500 million - costs that would result in higher property taxes if these students are pushed back into traditional public schools.

Are Lawmakers Considering "Other Options" on Scotland School?

Several state lawmakers and parents are protesting Governor Rendell's proposed closing of Scotland School (HT GrassrootsPA) - a school ostensibly for children of veterans - claiming we must first have "proper and thorough evaluation of all other options."

But are state lawmakers even open to "other options"?  All I hear are demands to keep the status quo - taxpayer funding of a school with exorbitant costs and poor performance - not an exploration of other options. The Commonwealth Foundation outlined four options as alternatives for Scotland students, which would provide better educational services at lower costs:

1. Establish a residential charter school to serve Scotland students.
2. Establish charter schools for children of military families.
3. Expand Pennsylvania's EITC scholarship program.
4. Create a state-funded scholarship program.

The Patriot News meanwhile, present both the pro and con position of closing the school.

Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak:

On the PSSA, the standard test measuring performance in all Pennsylvania schools, only 38.4 percent of Scotland School students were at grade level in math, and just 54.6 percent were at grade level in reading. In fifth grade, 88 percent of Scotland students were below grade level in reading and math. And by 11th grade, the last year in which students are tested before they graduate, nearly four in five Scotland students were found to be below grade level in math, and nearly half did not have the reading skills they will need to compete in the job market. 

Scotland School's curriculum does not compare favorably to the courses generally offered by other schools spending far less. Scotland School offers no Advanced Placement (AP) classes, no honors classes, and no opportunity to enroll juniors and seniors in courses that offer the prospect of receiving early college credit. In fact, there's no evidence of any high-level course work at the school.

Scotland graduate Dennis Ero:

There are many other reasons for keeping the school open. The savings -- only four- tenths of one percent of the proposed state budget -- shrinks with the offsetting costs of social services and programs that many of the students will require, the cost of shutting and mothballing the facility, the cost of retraining, etc.


The suggestion that it should be closed because of test scores doesn't hold up under the more meaningful measure of the real-life success of Scotland graduates. Nearly every graduate goes on to further his or her education and/or embark on a productive career.

Charter Schools Always Face a Financial Struggle

Kevin Ferris has a piece in the Wall Street Journal on the difficulty that charter schools face funding their facilities.  Ferris uses as his case study First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy.

As I pointed out in my recent testimony on charter schools in Pennsylvania, these schools receive, on average, over $2,500 less per-pupil than traditional, district run schools.  This lack of funding in spite of the fact that charter schools typically educate underserved, low-income students, and those who struggled in their traditional schools, and (unlike district schools), only receive funding if parents choose them as the best option for their children.

Vouching for D.C.

A new report from the US Department of Education finds the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program has been extremely successful.  Matthew Ladner has more in NRO on the reports findings:

In the most recent evaluation, participating students showed gains equivalent to 3.7 months’ worth of additional reading achievement, a statistically significant difference from the control group. ...

Outside of academics, the study also found statistically significant differences in parental and student satisfaction with their schools. Program students reported significantly higher teacher expectations and higher levels of school discipline and safety.

These results are nothing short of phenomenal, considering the long trail of failure and frustration produced by earlier attempts to significantly improve the education of disadvantaged children. We should bear in mind that the maximum size of the Opportunity Scholarship ($7,500) is a fraction of average per-pupil spending in the District of Columbia public-school system.

On Jay Greene's blog, Ladner focuses more on the fact that the Dept. of Education held onto the report while the DC Scholarship program was being debated, and in fact scheduled for elimination by Congress.

Get more stories and resources on these findings and the DC Scholarship Program from the Alliance for School Choice.

Study Shows School Vouchers are Working

The latest research on the Milwaukee school voucher program shows significant improvements in student achievement and millions of dollars in savings for state taxpayers.

Interestingly, boys seem to be doing better in private or charter schools, while girls are improving in public schools. Public schools, in general, have seen improvement since the implementation of vouchers--a trend researchers attribute to the increased competition between schools. Bottom line, school choice is increasing student achievement and cutting costs at the same time.

Criticisms against voucher programs usually focus on the fact that school choice programs haven't been successful enough. Dr. Patrick J. Wolf put it this way, "[the program]has produced a rising tide that has lifted all boats, but that tide has not exactly been a tsunami.”

School Choice Battles Wage On

Mary Katherine Ham has an excellent article on the battle over the DC Scholarship Program.The Philadelphia Bulletin also has a recent article, noting an Obama spokesman has said they would not let the program expire, but without specifics.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the state Department of Education is floating full-fledged inter-district choice (HT to E3). That is, students could enroll in another district, capacity allowing, free of charge.

Expanding school choice for Pennsylvania students may also be under debate whether it be for charter and cyber school funding, expanding the Educational Improvement Tax Credit, or perhaps a voucher or inter-district choice proposal. We have also suggested school choice for military children and special needs scholarships to serve students enrolled in the Scotland School and the Scranton School for the Deaf, respectively. School choice would give these students better options, while saving taxpayers the cost of operating these exorbitant, state-run schools.

Vouchers Improve Public Schools

A new review of studies by Greg Forster of the Friedman Foundation finds that public school systems have benefited from voucher programs:

"Contrary to the widespread claim that vouchers hurt public schools, the empirical evidence concludes that in fact, vouchers improve public schools," Forster says. "No empirical study has ever found that vouchers had a negative impact on public schools."

A total of 24 school choice programs now exist in 14 states and the District of Columbia, serving over 160,000 students.

Forster looked at 17 empirical studies which examined the impact of vouchers on academic achievement in public schools. All but one found that vouchers improved public schools and none found that vouchers harm public schools.

Funding for Cybers up For Debate

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a story about an upcoming hearing on charter schools and cyber school funding. As I will be testifying at the hearing, I won't repeat my remarks here. I will add a couple of points in response to criticism:

At today's hearing, Zahorchak is scheduled to testify that the administration of Gov. Rendell again will push for a statewide tuition rate for cyber charters and for capping the amount of their unreserved balances, an Education Department spokesman said.

The complaint that cyber schools have too much in their fund balances is ridiculous, unless you also complain that school districts typically have much larger amounts in their reserve funds. Cyber schools typically need to keep a large reserve because school districts refuse to paying in a timely manner.

State Sen Andrew E. Dinniman (D., West Chester) said that among the questions he planned to ask charter operators was how they intended to guard against further financial scandals. ...

As The Inquirer has reported, at least three Philadelphia charter schools and a cyber charter in Devon have been ensnared in a widening federal criminal probe.

As Bob Maranto has pointed out, charter schools are more accountable, as they depend on parents choosing them, and can be shut down/have their charter revoke. Unfortunatlely, this emphasis on a few problems in charter schools (leading to the main theme of today's hearing, remaking the entire charter law), doesn't address far more important questions, fraud, wasteful spending, or poor academic performance in school districts.

The Scotland School, the State Budget, and School Choice

The Morning Call has a story on Governor Rendell's proposal to close down the Scotland School for Veterans Children, asking if it is a "pawn in the budget game".  The quick answer is yes ... and no.

Certainly the proposal to close down the school is a "Washington Monument Ploy" (as is the proposal to close down the Governors Schools of Excellence) - cutting a popular program, even though it is small cost in the $29 billion state budget, to make the budget seem austere, or to justify a tax increase.

On the other hand, the cost of the school ($45,000 per pupil, more than triple the per-pupil spending statewide), the 1.5 to 1 student-staff ratio, and the fact that very few students served are the children of active-duty military.  The school is, as Rep. Ron Waters, largely a vehicle for students to escape the Philadelphia school district, and all its problems.

That said, there are better, and more cost effective, ways to serve these students:

• Transition the school to a state-wide charter school - drawing funding as other charter schools across the state do
• Transition the school to a military charter, working with the Department of Defense - schools such as this typically operate near military bases, but one which serves students statewide is certainly a possibility
• Expand Pennsylvania's existing Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) to include a provision for scholarships for children of active-duty military/veterans
• Create a state-wide scholarship program for military families - the American Legislative Exchange Council has model legislation for this type of program.
  

School Choice Hypocrisy Coming in DC?

The federal "omnibus" bill, despite billions in earmarks an pork, also proposes to cut off funding for the DC Scholarship program, write Dan Lips and Robert Enlow in NRO Online. This was also covered by Andrew Coulson in the NY Post and by the Wall Street Journal.

The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program improves student test scores, gets high marks from parents, and saves taxpayers money - the max scholarship value is $7,500, versus per-pupil spending of nearly $25,000 in the DC public schools.

The irony is that many members of Congress, and President Obama, use school choice to send their children to private schools. Do they hate poor black kids, or just not want them in the same schools as their children?

For more on this issue, and to watch videos (even I get a bit choked up at these, and I am emotionally dead inside) of some of the students giving a message to President Obama, visit VoicesofSchoolChoice.org.

Home Sweet Home

WGAL has a feature on homeschooling. Homeschooling has become a popular alternative for families in recent years: over 1.5 million students across the country are currently taught at home - this is a 75% increase over the past decade. The clip cites students' safety, religious convictions, and dissatisfaction with the traditional school system as reasons for educating at home.

A common concern about homeschooling is the supposed lack of socialization students may receive. However, as the video points out, many students are able to participate in extracurricular activities as well as homeschool groups with like-minded families.

For information and tips on homeschooling, check out the following resources:

- National Home Education Research Institute
- Home School Legal Defense Association
- CHAP - curriculum convention
- PDE - Homeschooling laws in Pennsylvania
- PHAA - high school diploma programs

School Choice Yearbook

The Alliance for School Choice has released their 2008-09 School Choice Yearbook (click here for the news release). 

The yearbook profiles school choice programs in every state, the growth of enrollment in school choice programs in recent years, and summarizes some of the recent research on choice - showing both benefits for students and reduced costs for taxpayers. 

Special Needs Scholarship Could Replace School for the Deaf

There has been a lot of public outcry against Governor Rendell's proposal to close the Scranton School for the Deaf, as well as the Scotland School for Veterans' Children (though in the case of the former, Gov. Rendell plans to provide $5.5 million in transition assistance, meaning a cost cut of only $1.5 million - and there is far more egregious examples of wasteful spending in the budget.).  But these schools cost $80,000 and $40,000 per-pupil, respectively, and are clearly something that should not be operations of the state.

Instead, lawmakers in Harrisburg should look to funding students, not state-run institutions.  Special needs scholarships would be one way to help students.  States like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Utah all have programs to send special needs students to their school of choice, with average costs per scholarship of $6,000-$9,000.  Not only do scholarships cost far less than these state-run schools, but they also produce dramatic improvements in student learning.

Plan to Reform Public Education

The Washington Policy Center recently released its Education Reform Plan for the Washington school system. It highlights the failure of the current program:

Nearly one-third of Washington public school students fail to graduate, and another third graduate without the knowledge and skills necessary for college or the workplace. Over half (52%) of public school students entering community or technical colleges must take remedial courses in math, English or reading to catch up. Eighty-four percent of employers say public schools are not doing a good job of preparing students to succeed in the workplace.

The Reform Plan offers 8 solutions to reverse the decline of public education. Some of these recommendations include school choice among public schools and increased transparency.

To see our recommendations for Pennsylvania, check out The Dollars and Sense of School Choice and The Edifice Complex. Also, stop by SchoolBoardTransparency.org.