What gives? A second Friday has passed without another sneaky political trick to rob low-income minority students of educational opportunities while attempting to attract as little media attention as possible. It’s almost like Obama and Duncan have stopped trying — like they are just phoning it in.
Or are they deterred by all of the media attention they did get?
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vouchers | Tagged: D.C. vouchers, Duncan, Obama | 
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Posted by Jay P. Greene
(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
Watch your favorite bearded libertarian edu-nerd (okay maybe third favorite) debate how much Arizona really spends in public schools:
4 Comments | money myth | Tagged: Arizona public school spending, Horizon, Matthew Ladner | Permalink
Posted by matthewladner
You know how fireworks shows end with a massive display to sparkle the eye? Well, this grand finale of the Famous Steakholder series similarly contains an explosion of steakholder images. Imagine the 1812 Overture playing in the background while you peruse these. Enjoy!
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Posted by Jay P. Greene
(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
In my final question for Leo, I ask: Leo, do your puppets have Taco Flavored Kisses?
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Posted by matthewladner
(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
In a bipartisan appeal, Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins wrote a letter to Secretary Duncan asking him to reverse the Departments decision to rescind Opportunity Scholarships to 200 DC school children (HT Whitney Tilson).
The letter reads:
Dear Secretary Duncan,
We are following up on our letter dated March 17, 2009, asking that you refrain from making any administrative rules or policies that would disrupt the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) or prevent the grantee from accepting applications and students for the 2009-2010 school year. Prior to a response to our inquiry, we were disappointed to learn that you subsequently made the choice not to allow new students to enroll in the program.
By preventing new scholarships from being awarded, you are effectively ending a program before Congress has had the opportunity to consider reauthorizing it. Therefore, we respectfully request that you consider reversing your decision.
As we noted in our letter to you, the future of the OSP is presently under consideration by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. We will be holding hearings on the program in May, and Majority Leader Reid has promised floor time to consider a reauthorization proposal. We respectfully request that you refrain from implementing significant changes to the program until we have an opportunity to review the program’s results, hold public hearings, and have a thoughtful debate about the future of the program.
Your recent decision to suspend the program for new entrants will hurt families who are searching for other options for their children. We understand that many of these parents had been notified that they would, in fact, receive scholarships for their children. Now that the DC Public School’s out of boundary process has been completed and the majority of public charter school deadlines have passed for the 2009-2010 school year, the suspension decision will leave these families with little or no opportunity to explore viable alternatives.
We will continue to support the D.C. Public School System in its efforts to improve outcomes for all students. However, in the interim, we must continue to provide options such as the OSP and provide families real choices in ensuring access to a quality education for their children.
We thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Joseph I. Lieberman
Susan M. Collins
1 Comment | vouchers | Tagged: Arne Duncan, D.C. vouchers, DC Opportunity Scholarships, Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins | Permalink
Posted by matthewladner
(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
Will Democrats live up to their ideals when it comes time to reauthorize DC Opportunity Scholarships, or shamefully repudiate those ideals with their actions? With a series of damning indictments piling up, none have been more accurate or pointed that this one by George Will:
As the president and his party’s legislators are forcing minority children back into public schools, the doors of which would never be darkened by the president’s or legislators’ children, remember this: We have seen a version of this shabby act before. One reason conservatism came to power in the 1980s was that in the 1970s liberals advertised their hypocrisy by supporting forced busing of other people’s children to schools the liberals’ children did not attend.
I predicted that a growing number of Democrats would not stand for this outrage, and today I am happy to say that the list is growing. Linked here is a letter sent by the chairmen of Democrats for Education Reform and the Black Alliance for Educational Options to Secretary Arne Duncan. As you’ll see, Kevin Chavous and Howard Fuller also address the subject of hypocrisy:
The one thing we know about both of you is that neither of you are hypocrites. But, by being unwilling to take a strong stand for these children and their families you are allowing yourselves to be placed in that category. It pains us to see you and the President being attacked this way. But, to be truthful it pains us more to see these children being denied the educational opportunity that the Opportunity Scholarship Program affords them.
If it has feathers, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it’s a duck.
It’s still not too late for Obama and Duncan to redeem themselves. If however they choose to repeat the shameful practice of busing for other people’s children with choice for me but not for thee I believe they will find a growing number of Democrats actively opposing them on behalf of these children.
(edited for typos)
Leave a Comment » | vouchers | Tagged: Arne Duncan, BAEO, Black Alliance for Educational Options, DC Opportunity Scholarships, Democrats for Education Reform, DFER | Permalink
Posted by matthewladner
Despite Obama and Duncan’s best efforts to conceal their steps to kill the D.C. voucher program by acting on Friday afternoons, they have utterly failed at burying this story. The hits just keep on coming.
In the latest round we have Morton Kondrake picking up on the appeasement metaphor I used in my WSJ piece:
“In a demonstration of obeisance to union power, however, Congressional Democrats refused to re-fund a private school voucher program in the District of Columbia and the administration swallowed the decision. Obama and Duncan say they have hopes to “work with” the unions rather than openly confront them and capitulation on D.C. vouchers may have been a goodwill offering. Whether appeasement will buy cooperation remains to be seen.”
George Will seems to be channeling Juan Williams’ fury:
“As the president and his party’s legislators are forcing minority children back into public schools, the doors of which would never be darkened by the president’s or legislators’ children, remember this: We have seen a version of this shabby act before. One reason conservatism came to power in the 1980s was that in the 1970s liberals advertised their hypocrisy by supporting forced busing of other people’s children to schools the liberals’ children did not attend.
This issue will be back. In a few months, the appropriation bill for the District will come to the floor of the House of Representatives, at which point there will be a furious fight for the children’s interests. Then we will learn whether the president and his congressional allies are capable of embarrassment. On the evidence so far, they are not.”
Peter Roff writes in U.S. News and World Report:
“Former North Carolina Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards liked to go around talking about the “two Americas.” Where education is concerned, he may have been on to something. There’s one America for the elites, like members of Congress and the President and Mrs. Obama, who send their children to private schools; and there’s one for everyone else, the regular people who, at least in the District of Columbia, are seeing the educational dreams they have for their children shattered on the altar of politics.”
And Adam Schaeffer over at Cato has given Arne Duncan an award. Unfortunately for Duncan it is the Chutzpah Award.
All of this is on top of the greatest hits collections, volume one and two, as well as a bunch of other hot singles from the Washington Post and others too numerous to mention in this 30 second commercial.
How can Obama, Duncan, Durbin, and the rest stop this pain? One easy solution is to do the right thing, follow the evidence, and renew D.C. vouchers.
2 Comments | vouchers | Tagged: Adam Schaeffer, Arne Duncan, Baarack Obama, D.C. vouchers, George Will, Juam Williams, Morton Kondrake, Peter Roff | Permalink
Posted by Jay P. Greene
(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
So the University of Texas has a defensive coordinator named Will Muschamp. Muschamp is known as “Coach Boom” because a clip of him reacting to a big hit went viral on youtube. Going nuts after one of his players delivered a bone crunching hit, Muschamp ran out on to the field happily screaming “BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!” in a voice louder than I would have ever expected humanly possible, with the possible exception of the Ladner children
Texas fans now happily yell “BOOM!” from the stands when they see a big hit.
This is the reaction I had when I read Dan Lips and Lindsey Burke in the NRO today. The lines from President Obama’s open letter to his daughters is priceless. I take that back. They are beyond priceless:
“In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation. I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential – schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college – even if their parents aren’t rich.”
3 Comments | vouchers | Tagged: D.C. vouchers, Dan Lips, Lindsey Burke, Will Muschamp | Permalink
Posted by matthewladner
(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
Charles Murray responds to Greg’s critique of his Kristol lecture on NRO. Murray writes:
Good Public Discourse [Charles Murray]
Why am I even bothering to post about it? Because we really, really need a change in tone when we’re discussing difficult issues (and need it every bit as much on the Right as on the Left). Forster’s essay is a model: Based on a minutely close reading of the thing-being-critiqued, refusing to personalize the argument in any way, and, dammit, acute.
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Posted by matthewladner
Dan Lips and Lindsey Burke have a great piece on National Review Online today about how members of Congress (I’m looking at you Dick Durbin) and the Administration (you know who you are Obama and Duncan) either went to private school and/or sent their kids to private school, yet are willing to deny those opportunities to others.
Here’s the money quote:
“the D.C. voucher debate presents President Obama with a great opportunity to match his words with action. Before his inauguration, he published an open letter to his daughters explaining why he had sought the presidency. Obama wrote: ‘In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation. I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential — schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college — even if their parents aren’t rich.’
President Obama now has the chance to live up to that promise by fighting to give low-income families the power of school choice that politicians take for granted.”
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Posted by Jay P. Greene
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