Only 18% Of High School Students Go On To Finish College Within Six Years

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, "for every 100 ninth graders who enter high school, only 18 finish college within six years."

Opposition To School Choice Stronger In Rural Areas

Education Week reports that private school choice—whether it comes in the form of vouchers, tax credits, or some other policy option—is becoming less of a Republican-vs.-Democrat issue, in which party affiliation tends to determine the level of state support for the issue, some experts say. Instead, they explain, school choice is increasingly becoming a rural-vs.-urban issue, with geography mattering more than political leaning.

Per Student Spending Increased 22.7% In 7 Years

According to the U.S. Department of Education, total expenditures per public school student increased 22.7 percent in constant dollars, from $7,847 to $9,630, between the 1995-96 and 2002-03 school years.

Teacher Unions Oppose Merit Pay

The following is the response from the president of the nation's largest teachers union, the National Education Association, to a Wall Street Journal editorial by Terry Moe advocating merit pay:

"Despite Terry Moe's enthusiastic endorsement ("Management 101 for Our Public Schools," editorial page, Oct. 31), there is nothing "revolutionary" about an idea that has been around since the 19th century. England tried it, Canada tried it and several U.S. school districts have tried it -- linking teacher pay to test scores has never worked.

The "Management 101" philosophy advanced by Mr. Moe is grounded in assumptions about pay that are misleading and incorrect. Southwest Airlines has never used individual incentives, and it is the cost and productivity leader in its industry. After surveying companies that experimented with different ways to tie pay to individual performance, consulting firm William M. Mercer concluded that "most individual merit or performance-based pay plans share two attributes: They absorb vast amounts of time and resources, and they make everybody unhappy."

The strongest incentives for teachers and all working people are competitive salaries and good working conditions. Connecticut adopted this view some years ago when its schools were in serious trouble. Today Connecticut consistently ranks above the national average in math and reading, a turnaround made possible by higher salaries for qualified faculty, increased licensing standards and mentoring for all new teachers.

While Mr. Moe and others are riding on the hope that an end-of-the- year cash bonus will translate into student success, teachers and those who know better will continue working to transform teacher quality at its core."

Reg Weaver

President

National Education Association

Washington

Milwaukee Voucher Growth

69% Graduation Rate In The 100 Largest Public School Districts

According to the United States Department of Education, 31% of students in the nation's 100 largest public school districts do not graduate. Not graduating increases the risk of dying sooner, earning less, and going to jail. The solution to this problem is providing education tax credits, as students who attend private schools have been proven to graduate at higher rates than public school students.

Washington D.C. Public Schools Doing Poorly

According to the Bridgespan Group, out of 100 9th grade students in the Washington D.C. public school system, only 9 will earn a college degree within 5 years of enrolling in college. This is less than half the 23% of 9th grade students nationally that earn a college degree within 5 years of enrolling in college, despite the fact that Washington D.C. spends over $12,800 per student per year, more than every other state but New York and New Jersey.

More Money Is Not The Solution To Fixing Public Schools

Jay Greene, author of Education Myths, says that "If money were the solution, the problem would already be solved ... We've doubled per pupil spending, adjusting for inflation, over the last 30 years, and yet schools aren't better."

National Education Association 2006 Election Efforts

N.E.A 2006 Election Efforts:
-Deployed 67 Election Organizers To 26 States
-Sent 188 Different Direct Mail Pieces With A Combined Distribution Of 3.6 million

N.E.A. Endorsed Candidate Victories:
-14 of 21 Governors
-14 of 15 U.S. Senate Races
-18 of 25 U.S. House Races

Bill Gates Says That Students Do Not Matter In The Public School System

According to Bill Gates, the inability of the public school system to "pay more for someone with scarce abilities" means that teacher performance does not matter which means that students do not matter. The teacher unions provide the primary opposition to merit pay.

If Coffee Shops Were Run Like Public Schools

The harm done by the public school monopoly can be easily understood if you imagine how much worse shopping for coffee would be if coffee shops were run like the public schools.

Vouchers Decrease Segregation

Greg Forster of the Friedman Foundation has found that "private schools participating in voucher programs in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Washington D.C. are much less segregated than public schools."

Quality Of College Credit Earned In High School Varies

According to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2002-2003 School Year:

71% of public high schools offered dual credit courses. 679,500 public and private high school students participated in dual credit programs, less than 5% of all public and private high school students.

67% of public high schools offered A.P. courses.
2% of public high schools offered International Baccalaureate courses.

Representing dual credit courses as being equal to A.P. and I.B. courses is misleading to high school students given the inferiority of dual credit courses compared to A.P. and I.B. courses.

Detroit Teachers' Strike Causes Layoffs

As predicted, the strike by the Detroit Federation of Teachers has led to layoffs of its members. The strike caused a loss of students to schools outside the Detroit public school system which then necessitated the teacher layoffs. Despite a media blitz by the Detroit public school system, the district has lost 4,000 more students than they had planned to lose before the strike took place. This round of layoffs, coupled with the small gains they got by striking, proves that the Detroit public school teachers were wrong to strike.

Four Reasons Why Dual Credit Classes Are Inferior To AP Classes

You must pass a test to earn college credit through the Advanced Placement program.
You need only pass the class to earn college credit in dual credit programs.

AP classes must meet a national curriculum standard.
Dual credit classes do not have to meet a national curriculum standard.

AP students have triple the class time that dual credit students do.

Virtually every college accepts AP credit. Not all colleges accept dual credit.

Increasing The Minimum Wage Increases High School Dropout Rates

When the minimum wage is increased, 16 and 17 year old workers earning the minimum wage see an increase in their incomes. This increase in income makes working more attractive for these 16 and 17 year olds. The increased attractiveness of working induces them to increase the number of hours that they work. The increase in the number of hours spent working comes at the expense of hours spent in school. Researchers Neumark and Wascher have found that for every 10% increase in the minimum wage, teenage school enrollment drops by 2%. Therefore, the immediate income boost that teenage minimum wage earners receive from an increase in the minimum wage is far outweighed by the long term income lost due to forgoing school for work.

New York City Charter School Students Outperforming Regular Public School Students

Just as in Washington D.C., New York City charter school students are outperforming regular public school students on standardized tests. New York City's charter schools educate over 15,000 students, 93% of whom are either black or latino.