(Guest post by Greg Forster)
Jay Mathews and I are rebooting our somewhat troublesome bet. We’re starting over from scratch. This time, rather than counting legislative chambers, we’re going to count “enactments” of school choice. Any time a new school choice program or expansion of a school choice program (defined the same way as before) is enacted, that counts as one.
I have to get to seven enactments in 2011 to win.
We’re currently at four:
1. AZ new program
2. AZ program expansion
3. CO new program
4. UT program expansion
I’m getting out a little ahead of the Arizona governor, here, but those bills are both slam dunk at this point.
I warned Jay that Indiana is looking pretty good, so it’s really a fight over whether I can get two wins in places like Wisconsin, Oklahoma and D.C. He’s cool with that.
Commence handicapping!
Jay P. Greene's Blog 
Why don’t you put at least a token effort into fixing public education?It works in other countries.Why is it so messed up in the US?Here,parents are almost obsessively involved in their kids’ schools.Attacking public schools,instead of doing everything possible to make them better is courting political oblivion here.We have private schools in Halifax,but the students are mostly from the Middle East,Asia,or from wealthy parents whose only investment in their childrens’ education is financial.We’re proud of our schools,and they do a good job.What’s wrong with you people?Maybe if you actually got involved with the schools instead of treating them like some place you send your kids for 6 or 7 hours to get them out of your hair,they might actually work.
School choice is by far the best proven way to improve public schools. See here. No other reform has anything like that kind of track record of demonstrated success in improving public schools.
I like your bet.
You know, I actually think friendly wagering among policy rivals and journos would be quite useful. Predictions markets — even if simply the sort you have here, for bragging rights — could help show where the mavens are on all sorts of ed issues.
I agree. I think I’ll do this more often.
But this is for much more than bragging rights – dinner in DC can be expensive!
[…] The number of “enactments” of school choice programs across the nation in 2011 so far. Jay Mathews and Greg Forster have a bet going on over this number. (Jay P. Greene’s Blog) […]
[…] the way, it looks like there’s a second round to the bet – you can take a look at Greene’s site. I’m not sure exactly who moved the finish line, but Mathews has spent years opining on […]
Oklahoma may well enact a scholarship tax credit this year. It’s not a done deal, but cautious optimism is warranted.
http://bit.ly/h7n7D9