The education debacle of the decade

Why did this happen?  According to former DC Mayor Anthony Williams and former DC Councilman Kevin Chavous (both Democrats), the answer is politics at its worst.

Williams and Chavous co-authored an op-ed arguing that politicians opposing OSP “are largely fueled by special-interest groups that are more dedicated to the adults working in the education system than to making certain every child is properly educated.”

The editorial board of the Washington Post put it a little more bluntly:

It’s clear, though, from how the destruction of the [OSP] program is being orchestrated, that issues such as parents’ needs, student performance and program effectiveness don’t matter next to the political demands of teachers’ unions.

The Post board also wrote that “the debate unfolding on Capitol Hill isn’t about facts.  It’s about politics and the stranglehold the teachers unions have on the Democratic Party.”

As it turns out, the teachers unions are the single largest contributor to federally elected politicians, with the vast majority of their funds going to Democrats.  The teachers unions don’t like programs like OSP because when parents have the freedom to choose, they may choose schools that don’t have unionized teachers.

DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton was one of the principal opponents of OSP and was instrumental in ending the program.   Guess who her largest donor is?  Answer here.

The three main critiques of OSP are that it takes money away from the public schools, is not accountable and does not provide a cure-all solution to improving education.  None of these critiques has merit.

First, OSP takes no money away from public schools.  By stark contrast, it pumps millions of dollars into the public schools. OSP is funded with new federal money as part of a plan that allocates matching funding directly to the public schools.  So for every dollar that goes to OSP, the public schools get an extra dollar.

Plus, the public schools get to keep all the money saved through OSP.  This means that in addition to the matching funds, the public schools receive over $10,000 for every child in OSP—children that the public schools do not have to educate.  Also worth noting, the Education Secretary has a $159 billion budget with billions going to education programs that are unproven.

Second, OSP is truly accountable.  Parents care about the welfare of their individual children more than any politician or bureaucrat. The parents are overjoyed with the program, unlike their prior dissatisfaction with the DC public schools they are desperate to escape.

Third, DC kids need help right now and OSP provides it.  Systemic reform takes time, and while we all should support and applaud recent efforts to reform the public schools, it will be years before they perform as well as the private schools that the OSP students attend, if they ever do.  That is, children in school today need help today.  They cannot wait for years or decades for reform to hopefully come.

To his credit, Education Secretary Arne Duncan acknowledged that the OSP students are “safe and learning and doing well.” He argued, “We can’t be satisfied with saving 1 or 2 percent of children and letting 98 or 99 percent down.”