Corruption and inefficiency plague public schools
The editorial “Don’t vouch for this” (Jan. 15) states that a plan for school vouchers in the District is “tantamount to an acceptance of defeat in the public school system.” But how should one characterize a school system in which the average SAT score is more than 200 points below the national average and almost 400 points below independent and private schools in the area? These gaps can be seen early on as well: according to a Washington Post Op/Ed piece by Dianne Feinstein, “76 percent of D.C. fourth-graders performed below grade level in math, and only 10 percent read proficiently.” By eighth grade, “77 percent … performed below grade level in math, and only 12 percent were proficient in reading.”
The claim that the school voucher program currently being reviewed would “take desperately needed funds away from” District schools has two flaws. First, the vouchers would be funded by the federal government: the money would not be taken from public school funds. Secondly, D.C. schools are not underfunded. Currently, D.C. schools spend over $10,000 per student per year, one of the highest spending levels in the nation. The problem the District faces is not “inadequate financial support,” as you claim, but rather rampant corruption and inefficiency.? Whether one is for the proposed plan or not, the only way to begin the debate over vouchers is with an honest evaluation of the current problems facing District schools.?
Bill Bruntrager
CAS ‘06
