Nina Rees and Doug Mesecar, both former leaders of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement, respond to Ted Mitchell's and Jon Schorr's Ed Week commentary in this (longish) letter to the editor. And yes, they throw down the voucher gauntlet:
Innovation and politics don't play well together. Take the District of Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship Program as an example, since Messrs. Mitchell and Schorr forgot to mention it. If innovation should break the mold, this program truly meets the test. Some Democrats and Republicans consider empowering low-income families with the option to enroll their children in well-established private schools an innovation worth exploring; many more, however, do not.The scholarship program is part of a unique "three sector" initiative designed and championed by local leaders in Washington, and it has infused significant new federal funding into the city's traditional public schools and charter schools alike, alongside funding for new private-school-choice options. The program includes a rigorous evaluation to test its impact on student achievement and on the public school system.
Its fate is in limbo today, however, as it is unclear whether the next Congress will see the need to continue the program. We hope the next office of innovation will at least adopt the little orphan (just as we adopted the whaling program the Commentary authors singled out) until we better understand its impact.
So Dems, what will it be? Just innovation that the left likes, or any innovation that's good for children?
