Educational Vouchers

Compiled by Arden Rice Sujewicz, June 2001

http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/pubs/tapthepower.htm

Educational Choice in Wisconsin. Susan Mitchell, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, May 1993 (Report vol.6, no.4). (373.2/W75a) This report demonstrates that although the voucher system may seem controversial, many private and religious institutions in Wisconsin already do receive public funds for early childhood and post-secondary education.

An Evaluation of Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau (95-3), February 1995. (373.2/W7L/1993-94) The focus of this audit is a review of the methodology and findings in the state mandated evaluations of the Choice Program conducted by Professor John F. Witte, as well as the findings reported by his critics. The report also looks at issues relating to the expansion of the Choice Program.

An Evaluation, Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau (00-2), February 2000. (373.2/W7L/1998-99) The bureau surveyed parents of children enrolled in the Choice Program during the 1998-99 school year to determine how parents learned of the program and chose the schools that they did. The audit report also addresses concerns about the admissions process, the lack of standardized testing, and funding. http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lab/reports/00-2full.pdf

Expanded School Choice in Milwaukee. Howard L. Fuller and Sammis B. White, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, July 1995 (Report vol.8, no.5). (373.2/W75b) This report compares public school students in Milwaukee to private school students in Milwaukee and public school students elsewhere in the state. It also addresses the question of what students would be served by an expanded school choice program.

[First Through Fifth-Year] Reports on Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. John F. Witte, et al., Robert M. La Follette Institute of Public Affairs, 1991-95. (PubI/r) (noncirculating) These five annual reports were contracted by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to fulfill the statutory mandate for an independent evaluation of the Choice Program.

Funding for the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. May 8, 2001. A memo from the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau to members of the Wisconsin Legislature.  http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/Misc/050801_choice.pdf

Making School Choice Work for All Families: A Template for Legislative & Policy Reform. John E. Coons and Stephen D. Sugarman, Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, 1999. (373.2/P11) Examines all sides of the various issues raised by the school choice debate such as student entitlement, school eligibility, funding, and other program requirements.

Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau (Informational Paper; no.29), 2001. (373.2/W7i/2001) This biennial report summarizes the legal history of the program, the statutory provisions governing the program, student participation rates, funding, and evaluations conducted of the program.  http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/informationalpapers/2001/29.pdf

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. George A. Mitchell, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, November 1992 (Report, vol.5, no.5). (373.2/W75) This report reviews the impact of the Milwaukee Choice program during its first three years and analyzes the initial report of the DPI funded evaluation of the program. Although the report gives a favorable account of the program, it is quite critical of the Department of Public Instruction's administration of it.  http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lab/PastReportsByDate.htm

Milwaukee School Choice Voucher Program. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (Wisconsin Brief 01-4), Revised Jan. 2001. This recently published two-page summary provides a brief overview of the Choice Program.  http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/pubs/wb/01wb4.pdf

On Thin Ice: How Advocates and Opponents Could Misread the Public's Views on Vouchers and Charter Schools. Steve Farkas, Jean Johnson, and Anthony Foleno, Public Agenda, 1999. (371.2/P961) This report reviews the results of a nationwide survey on educational reform that found that many citizens, even in communities where voucher and charter school programs already exist, do not have a clear understanding of how these programs operate or what are their pros and cons.  http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/vouchers/voucherhome.htm

Selling Out Our Schools: Vouchers, Markets and the Future of Public Education. Edited by Robert Lowe and Barbara Miner, Rethinking Schools, 1996. (371.2/R31) A collection of essays advocating support for public schools and against privatization of education.

Internet Sites

The Center for Educational Reform, School Choice Research Library: A collection of research reports that favorably assesses voucher programs.  http://edreform.com/school_choice/research.htm 

False Choices: Vouchers, Public Schools, and Our Children's Future (Rethinking Schools online): This special issue contains a collection of essays arguing against voucher programs.  http://www.rethinkingschools.org/SpecPub/voucher.htm 

Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance: This collection of research reports on voucher programs includes critiques of Professor John F. Witte's evaluations of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.  http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/pepg/papers.htm 

National Center for Policy Analysis: School Choice and Charter Schools: Links to a collection of articles favoring public and privately funded voucher programs.  http://www.ncpa.org/pi/edu/edu2.html 

Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, 1990/91-1994/95 Dataset. (Data and Program Library Service, University of Wisconsin- Madison): This site is an online data archive of all the research data collected by Professor John F. Witte in his five-year evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.  http://dpls.dacc.wisc.edu/choice/choice_index.html 

Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction): DPI's official website for the Choice Program contains general information, forms, statutes, regulations, and statistics in addition to links to various other state documents related to the Choice Program.  http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dfm/sms/choice.html 

Opportunity Scholarship Program (Florida Department of Education): Basic information for parents and private and public school administrators about Florida's voucher program.  http://www.cfe.com/premier/educationconnection/tfrdoe.htm 

Private School Vouchers: Myth vs. Fact (Americans United for Separation of Church and State): A question and answer format style essay argues against voucher programs.  http://www.au.org/vouchers.htm 

Public Policy Forum: This Milwaukee-based private institute offers a number of research briefs and reports on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and interdistrict school choice.  http://www.publicpolicyforum.org/current_issues_edu.html 

School Choice 2000: What's Happening in the States (Heritage Foundation): State-by-state profiles on the availability of school choice programs, charter schools, and educational vouchers. Each profile also includes legislative and court updates, as well as information on school finance.  http://www.heritage.org/schools/#Table%20of%20Contents

Clippings: (Noncirculating; available for use in the library; clippings prior to 1981 are on microfiche)

• Private/parochial schools 370.52/W7z (Wisconsin); 370.52/Z (United States)
• Schools - Attendance 373.2/Z (Wisconsin and other states)

BadgerLink: www.badgerlink.net
Search the ProQuest Newspapers and EBSCOhost magazines databases for full text articles. Suggested search words: Educational vouchers, Educational reform, or school vouchers.