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School Choice and Community Renewal: 2007
July 2007

“School Choice and Community Renewal,” an updated report released by School Choice Wisconsin, details the substantial positive impact of school choice on urban renewal in Milwaukee neighborhoods.

July 2007 - School Choice Wisconsin Seeks Director of Development
School Choice Wisconsin (SCW) and its companion organization, the Alliance for Choices in Education (ACE), are seeking an experienced Director of Development to prepare and execute a development plan.

May 2007 - Free to Choose, and Learn
New research shows that parental choice raises standards—including for those who stay in public schools.

April 2007 - Giving Poor Parents the Same Choices as the Rich
For more than 20 years as a citizen and educator, I have watched educational trends in Wisconsin. During that time, I have taken a specific interest in urban education as the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program has become an innovative and important option for poor families.

April 2007 - Special Education Vouchers: Critics' Claims Flimsy at Best
If proponents of Senate Bill 10 succeed, parents of special education students will have a small but significant advantage in finding the right school for their offspring, as they could use educational vouchers to transfer their child to a private school.

March 2007 - A Day Late
The bill that seemed to scare lawmakers the most would have provided choice to the middle class, by offering all residents a $1,000 educational tax credit (and a $500 tax credit to home-schoolers). It would have allowed parents to pool their tax credits with grandparents, aunts, uncles etc. and thereby vest the middle class in school choice reforms. Thus the tax credit was a much bigger deal than it might appear at first glance. It would mean that any person or interest group who wanted to crush school choice down the road would have to face down parents with the wherewithal to fight back.

March 2007 - Special Needs Voucher Plan Scores as a Win-Win for Students, Schools
Georgians, by experience and nature, take slowly to change. Part of it is our rural and small-town heritage. Part, too, is the experience of an impoverished region that found seniority in Congress to be an effective strategy for bringing good military-related jobs to poor, under-trained sharecroppers and mill workers.

March 2007 - The March Is Not Over
My own journey to provide quality education for inner-city children began in Little Rock, Arkansas, and continues in Washington, D.C., today. Fifty years ago, Gov. Orval Faubus, a white Democrat, stood in the doors of Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas and blocked black students from entering the school. Faubus's defiance came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the "separate but equal" educational system for whites and blacks was unconstitutional.

February 2007 - Gov. Huntsman Signs Utah’s Universal School Voucher Bill
Today, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. signed the nation’s first ever universal school voucher program into law. The program will allow nearly every family in the state to have a choice in their child’s education, becoming the first program to achieve Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman’s vision for universal school choice.

February 2007 - School Choice Wisconsin Releases Four New Reports
School Choice Wisconsin has released four new reports detailing recent developments in school choice in Milwaukee.

February 2007 - Somewhere, Milton Is Smiling
Utahns win a hard-fought victory for school choice.

February 2007 - Utah House Passes Universal School Choice
Today, the Utah House passed, by a vote of 38 to 37, what could become the nation’s first ever universal school voucher program.

January 2007 - Educator Calls for Choice of Schools: Achievement Gap Addressed at Meeting
Howard Fuller offered a passionate plea Wednesday to give families living in poverty the choice of where to send their children to school. “Why are we afraid to free the people?” Fuller asked the audience of about 60 people gathered at the Shaw Center for the Arts.

December 2006 - A Classroom of Their Own
Yes, there are dress codes and no boys, but students say their all-girls, Catholic schools go far beyond the stereotypes

November 2006 - Milwaukee Voucher Enrollment Passes 17,000
According to recently released figures from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 2006-2007 enrollment in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) has reached a record high 17,275.4 students (FTE) in 124 schools.

November 2006 - Statement on Death of Dr. Milton Friedman
INDIANAPOLIS—Today, upon news of the death of Nobel Laureate economist Dr. Milton Friedman, Gordon St. Angelo, president and CEO of the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, offered the following statement:

November 2006 - Myths About School Choice
There are three particular claims every autumn by people who don't like letting poor Milwaukee parents use state aid to pay for private schools.

November 2006 - School Choice Could Save S.C. Students
I will step into the ballot box Tuesday with one thing atop of my mind: radical school reform. School choice, in the form of vouchers or tax credits, is the most likely vehicle to force South Carolina down the road to radical change, and that's why I support such efforts.

August 2006 - Study Finds Lower Level of Segregation in the MPCP
An August 2006 study by Dr. Greg Forster, Senior Fellow at the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation finds that schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program have lower levels of segregation than the Milwaukee Public Schools.

August 2006 - New Report Details MPCP Admission Practices
School Choice Wisconsin has released a new report detailing admission practices in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP).

August 2006 - It's Time to Empower Low-Income Parents
Our poorest children are being denied a quality education in so many places in this country. While their futures are being snuffed out, too many of us who are able to access quality options for our own children are questioning the idea of empowering poor families by making these very same options available to them.

June 2006 - Editorial: Make it work: School-voucher program isn't perfect, but its potential makes it worth fixing
Ohio's first foray into a statewide school-voucher program clearly has some kinks, but they can be worked out.

June 2006 - Inner-City School Choice
How long, Portland, how long? How much longer will we consign North Portland students and their parents to public schools that have systematically failed them for decades?

May 2006 - New Report Details School Choice Accountability
The second in a series of reports by School Choice Wisconsin detailing accountability in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program can be downloaded here. School Choice Accountability: Results from Milwaukee details the continued success of Act 155, as well as the new accountability provisions in Act 125; the school choice compromise bill.

March 2006 - City Schools that Work
At first glance, the near north side of Milwaukee can be a bleak place, now that it has lost the department stores, factories and other businesses that used to thrive there. But if you want to see inner-city children getting a good education, it’s the most beautiful spot in America.

March 2006 - Op-Ed: Choice Program Gives Schools Incentives
Why limit success? That is the question advocates of parental choice have asked as they seek an increase in the enrollment cap on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP).

March 2006 - Milwaukee School Voucher Deal Passes
Both houses of the Wisconsin State Legislature have passed bills reflecting the school choice compromise.

March 2006 - Representative Jason Fields (D) on School Choice
Milwaukee State Representative Jason Fields (D), a staunch school choice supporter, gave an impassioned speech during the debate on AB1057, the school choice compromise bill.

February 2006 - Editorial: A School Choice Victory
After three previous vetoes, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle finally did right by inner-city school kids last week and signed on to a bipartisan compromise that would expand Milwaukee's successful school voucher program.

February 2006 - Op-Ed: Let Your People Stay
If you were a Democrat watching Coretta Scott King's funeral, you could congratulate yourself on the party's role in past civil rights struggles. But if you saw what's been on television in Milwaukee in the past month, you'd wonder what's become of your party.

February 2006 - ACE Statement on Enrollment Cap Agreement
The Alliance for Choices in Education (ACE) expressed appreciation to Governor Jim Doyle and Assembly Speaker John Gard for their successful efforts to reach an agreement that provides meaningful relief from the school choice enrollment cap.

January 2006 - Choice Opponents are Closing Many Schoolhouse Doors
School choice - in its most basal form - is a civil rights issue.

January 2006 - Editorial: A Study to Fill in the Blanks on Vouchers
At last, a key missing piece of Milwaukee's school voucher program - an evaluation - may fall into place. No, the circumstances are not ideal. The main drawback is lack of state sponsorship, due to Gov. Jim Doyle's refusal to cooperate. But a research institute has stepped forward, offering to tap foundations to fund the study - the second-best way to go.

January 2006 - Wall Street Journal Editorial: The Education Borg
Milwaukee's Parental Choice Program, enacted with bipartisan support in 1990, provides private school vouchers to students from families at or below 175% of the poverty line. Its constitutionality has been supported by rulings from both the Wisconsin and U.S. Supreme Courts.

January 2006 - 'He's Throwing Away My Dream'
Milwaukee's innovative school choice program has become a beacon of hope for reformers everywhere. But the educational establishment has never accepted its success and is now striking back. A cap on the number of students that can attend the city's private choice schools has been reached, and starting Feb. 1, education officials will implement a rationing plan to allocate the program's available seats. That could disrupt up to 4,000 families and create such chaos among the participating schools that several could be threatened with closure.

January 2006 - VIEW ACE T.V. SPOTS
VIEW ACE T.V. SPOTS

January 2006 - Editorial: Time Past Due for Accord
It's crunch time now for a deal between the Democratic governor and the Republican Legislature on voucher schools. Unless they act, and soon, chaos may descend on the voucher program. Scores of schoolchildren may lose their seats; scores of others will be denied initial entry and scores of parents may not learn until very late whether their children can attend a voucher school.

December 2005 - DPI Announces Rationing Plan
The plan announced today will mean that in the 2006-07 school year hundreds — perhaps thousands — of students will be forced to leave the schools their families have chosen. The ability of schools to make reasonable fiscal and educational plans will evaporate. Some schools might close.

December 2005 - Wisconsin State Assembly Passes Autism Scholarship Program
The Wisconsin State Assembly last night passed an autism scholarship program that would provide vouchers up to $15,000 for 200 children to attend private schools or treatment programs of their parents’ choosing.

December 2005 - Milwaukee Proves School Choice Can Work
The corner of 24th Street and Teutonia Avenue in Milwaukee, Wis., doesn't look that different from other intersections in Milwaukee. This past fall, however, I learned that this intersection is anything but typical.

October 2005 - Enrollment Cap Hits
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has announced that the enrollment cap on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program has been reached.

October 2005 - Annual Report Shows Positive MPS Response to Choice
The newest installment of an annual report by School Choice Wisconsin documents how the Milwaukee Public Schools have improved since educational options like charter schools, contract schools, and vouchers were created or expanded in the 1990s.

September 2005 - School Choice and Community Renewal
“School Choice and Community Renewal,” a new report released by School Choice Wisconsin, details the substantial positive impact of school choice on urban renewal in Milwaukee neighborhoods.

September 2005 - School Choice Accountability: Results from Milwaukee
A new report produced by School Choice Wisconsin details recent cooperation between the Department of Public Instruction and the School Choice community in developing permanent administrative rules for Act 155, a set of financial viability measures for choice schools.

August 2005 - Back to School: More Children than Ever Will Participate in Private School Choice Programs
As American students return to school or enroll for the first time, more families than ever before will experience the expanding revolution in American education: the ability of parents to choose the best school for their children. Though there is still a long way to go, 2005 has been the most successful year yet for the national school choice movement, and 2006 looks even brighter.

August 2005 - MJS Applauds Cooperation, Calls for Action on Cap
An August 19 editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS) praised recent cooperation between voucher advocates and the Department of Public Instruction in strengthening accountability measures in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). The paper also continued its call for Governor Jim Doyle (D) to lift the enrollment cap on the MPCP.

June 2005 - 2005 Best Legislative Year Ever for School Choice
In the midst of the best legislative year yet for the national school choice movement, more children than ever before will be able to leave poor-performing public schools and use their education funds in private schools.

June 2005 - Define School Accountability
Susan Mitchell, president of School Choice Wisconsin, called for perspective in the Milwaukee school accountability debate.

April 2005 - Nation's First Urban School Choice Program Turns 15
Today marks the 15-year anniversary of the law creating the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the nation’s oldest and largest urban school choice program, whose successes are many, but whose future is in jeopardy if Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle vetoes a bill that would lift the 15,000 student enrollment cap.

April 2005 - New Report Outlines Extensive Body of School Choice Research
A new survey of school choice research by Gerard Robinson, senior fellow at Marquette University’s Institute for the Transformation of Learning, finds that an extensive amount of school research exists, and that the results are positive.

October 2004 - Milwaukee's Public Schools in an Era of Choice: A new report shows how public schools are responding to school choice
The newest update of an annual report by School Choice Wisconsin documents how Milwaukee Public Schools have improved since educational options like charter schools, contract schools, and vouchers were created or expanded in the 1990s.

September 2004 - New Study Shows Positive Milwaukee School Choice Graduation Rate
A new study by a leading national authority on high school graduation rates finds that students in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program graduate from high school at higher rates than students attending the city’s public schools.

September 2004 - Public School Teachers Use Choice
A new study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found that a higher percentage (21.5%) of urban public school teachers send their children to private schools than other urban families (17.5%).

June 2004 - Associated Press Story Highlights Unique Educational Partnership
In a radical change from the traditional view of public education, a unique partnership is helping revitalize a central city Milwaukee neighborhood.

January 2004 - D.C. Voucher Program Gains Congressional Approval
A private school voucher program will begin this fall for Washington, D.C. public school students after the House and Senate approved the plan, which President Bush has signed.

November 2003 - Non-Partisan Working Group Says Choice Can Work if Designed and Executed Correctly
A new report by the Brookings Institute says school choice is here to stay and would benefit from policy makers and philanthropists exploring how to structure choice programs so they help improve public education. The report outlines how local communities interested in providing choice might structure programs to be the most effective at improving education for all children.

August 2003 - New Study Shows Effects of Vouchers on Fla Public Schools
A new study shows how public schools responded to Florida's A+ Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides students with vouchers to attend the public or private school of their choice if they attend a public school that has been graded as failing.

June 2003 - Research shows gains for African Americans using privately funded vouchers
Harvard researchers unveiled new findings of a study of the privately funded New York Scholarship program that provides low-income children with a voucher to attend the school of their families’ choice. The study shows significant test-score gains among African American students. The report is a response to Princeton researchers who disputed an earlier study, also showing gains among African American students.

May 2003 - Existing Research Supports Expansion of Vouchers
In his commentary in the Wall Street Journal, Jay Greene of the Manhattan Institute shows that despite the claims of voucher opponents, school choice research consistently shows positive results which supports the continuation and expansion of such programs.

April 2003 - Colorado Enacts School Voucher Program
On April 16, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens signed into law the state’s first school voucher program, giving Colorado the designation of being the first state to pass voucher legislation since the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the constitutionality of such programs last year.

April 2003 - Welcome to the Redesigned SchoolChoiceInfo Website!
The redesigned site offers more resources and enhanced features to provide easier access to even more information about school choice programs around the country. These improvements are being launched along with a new sponsor for the site, the American Education Reform Council (AERC).

March 2003 - New Film Tells Story of Nation’s Oldest, Largest Voucher Program
A new half-hour documentary produced by the American Education Reform Council highlights the positive impact of vouchers in Milwaukee and profiles three families in the Milwaukee choice program.

February 2003 - New Wisconsin School Choice Website Launched
In February, the American Education Reform Council launched a new website devoted entirely to educational options in Milwaukee and their impact on the state of Wisconsin.

January 2003 - Choice Prompts $100 Million Dollar Investment in Poorest Areas
Thanks to educational choice programs, nearly $100 million in completed and planned investments will build and renovate schools in Milwaukee neighborhoods, according to a new report, "Schools that Choice Built."

August 2002 - New Report Demonstrates Impact of School Choice on Racial Integration in Milwaukee Private Schools
Private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program are more integrated than the Milwaukee Public Schools, according to a recently released report from the American Education Reform Council.

July 2002 - School Choice Advisor: A Wisconsin Newsletter
The School Choice Advisor and School Choice Advocate are two newsletters published periodically to help Wisconsin policy makers and journalists better understand school choice programs in the state.

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