UPDATE from Stop Special Needs Vouchers, 23 December 2014

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Stop Special Needs Vouchers

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Dec 23, 2014, 8:55:34 AM12/23/14
to J Juhnke
Holiday greetings from Stop Special Needs Vouchers -- please forward as widely as possible!

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Rep. Mark Pocan Calls for Federal Review of WI Voucher Program

On December 20, the office of Rep. Mark Pocan announced that he and two colleagues, Rep. Gwen Moore and Rep. David Loebsack, had requested the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to pursue a review of Wisconsin's voucher program, with notable attention to disability-related issues and data.

"Every child in Wisconsin and across the United States deserves the right to a high-quality education," Pocan said in a statement. "Before Gov. Walker tries to expand the state’s voucher program, Wisconsin taxpayers deserve to know more about the widespread reports of discrimination against students with disabilities and the insufficient academic accountability of choice schools."  
http://tinyurl.com/ovk5ekk

Stop Special Needs Vouchers applauded the review request in a press release:
Families of Students with Disabilities Applaud Request for Federal Review of Voucher Program

Madison, WI – Wisconsin families of students with special needs are pleased to support Rep. Mark Pocan in his request for a federal review of Milwaukee’s voucher-school program, with an emphasis on examining disability issues. Given the recently-threatened return of the failed special needs vouchers proposal, coupled with the numerous allegations of disability-related discrimination in the Milwaukee voucher program, a thorough examination is long overdue.

“I am encouraged to see the prospect of getting some solid information about students with special needs in the Milwaukee voucher program,” said Anna Moffit, Madison parent of three children with disabilities. “The disability-discrimination complaints are real, and Rep. Pocan’s questions are more than reasonable. How can voucher expansion even be on the table, particularly the special needs vouchers, when such basic accountability and information is still lacking?”
(Full press release online at http://www.stopspecialneedsvouchers.org/?p=544)

Stop Special Needs Vouchers has conveyed this support to Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the GAO, referencing the original review request letter at http://pocan.house.gov/sites/pocan.house.gov/files/Final_GAO_Request_12_11.pdf

For individual expressions of additional support, Mr. Dodaro's e-mail address is dod...@gao.gov.

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"The Market Mechanism Just Doesn't Work" in the Education Sector

A "pro-market" researcher has recently disavowed one of the core principles of the voucher movement.

For years we've been told that if we just let the "free market" do its work, and give parents vouchers and "choice," accountability and improvement will follow.

However, charter-researcher Margaret Raymond of the Hoover Institution recently declared the following:

"I actually am kind of a pro-market kinda girl. But it doesn’t seem to work in a choice environment for education. I’ve studied competitive markets for much of my career. That’s my academic focus for my work. And it’s [education] the only industry/sector where the market mechanism just doesn’t work. I think it’s not helpful to expect parents to be the agents of quality assurance throughout the state."
http://tinyurl.com/lt4u5nm

This will be important to remember when the "pro-market" voucher assertions crop up again in Wisconsin in the new year.

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Vouchers and Special Education in the News

Wisconsin tax dollars are now paying for nearly 30,000 students at schools where the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not apply.
"Wisconsin voucher programs march toward 30,000 student threshold" (Journal Sentinel, December 8)
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/wisconsin-voucher-programs-march-toward-30000-student-threshold-b99403663z1-285131261.html

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Another Milwaukee voucher outfit exposed. Wisconsin will spend $4.6 million on Ceria M. Travis Academy voucher schools, where only 2% of students are testing "proficient" (and that's only one of the issues).
"Former employees cast doubt on voucher school's operations" (Journal Sentinel, December 15)
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/former-employees-cast-doubt-on-voucher-schools-operations-b99407859z1-285881491.html

Online reviews of the Travis Academy have included the following complaints:
- This school does not provide special ed services. This school does not employ all licensed teachers. (parent)
- Awful, they get staff and students to meet the state requirement. Then excess staff and get rid of bad students after the numbers are turned in to state. (community member)
- i rate this school a zero..it is ran poorly they are failing some kids and hendering otheres -kids dont respect the teachers.there is nostaff support..they have no books. they dont help with special ed (parent)

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Sheila Plotkin of McFarland, who wrote to Governor Walker and her legislators in response to last month's SSNV call-to-action, turned that communication into an excellent letter to the editor!
"Our special-needs children are not cash cows to be milked by profiteers. Education is for children, not profit."

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Ready to Advocate in 2015!

A holiday toast to Wisconsin's public schools, and to the commitment we make as a community to ALL our children!

Forever Schools: http://tinyurl.com/nxs2gr6
"A public school is a commitment. It's a community promising, 'We will build this place to help our children learn and grow, and we will never, ever, close it for capricious or self-serving reasons. Families may come and go. Businesses may rise and fall. But when you come back here in a generation or two or three, you will find this school still standing.'"

Let's all re-charge our batteries over the holiday, so we're rested and ready to advocate in 2015!

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http://www.stopspecialneedsvouchers.org/about/

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http://www.stopspecialneedsvouchers.org/in-the-news/

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