An analysis of the social science value and methodological quality of educational studies published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (1990-2001).

For charter schools to justify the elimination of typical district and state regulations and to fulfill their promise, accountability is essential. Although individual charter schools and their chartering agencies are obligated to conduct evaluations of the innovative programs of the schools, a statewide, longitudinal evaluation of Wisconsin charter schools provides an understanding of the overall nature and impact of the charter school reform in Wisconsin.

Notwithstanding claims to the contrary, a decade of research has shown no academic benefit from sending students to voucher schools. The few studies that do show improvement have been produced under conditions that have led to serious questions about the quality of their research. International and domestic research, however, has found that voucher programs may in fact increase funding inequities between low-income and high-income school districts, stratify students by income, race and social background, and drain needed funds from the nation's public school systems.

A Congressional bill to use federal funds to help promote merit pay programs for public schools ignores years of research suggesting merit pay systems usually don't work, particularly in education.

President Bush's education reform package now moving through Congress relies on de facto nationwide testing-an instrument of educational reform that is simplistic, counterproductive, and a major assault on local, democratic control of the nation's public schools.

Recent coverage of the Manhattan Institute's report on Florida's A-Plus voucher program ignored subsequent, peer-reviewed articles questioning the original report's conclusions. Moreover, a brief survey of journals and organizations found that while journals subject research to peer review, several high-profile organizations do not, yet they employ sophisticated strategies to win media attention. The absence of consistent peer review in widely reported education research may subvert sound policy by promoting priorities not founded on solid social science research.

Existing school voucher experiments do not yet support their effectiveness. The weight of evidence still argues against them.

The third directory of For-Profit Education Management Companies published by CACE and the Education Policy Project identifies 21 companies managing 285 schools in 22 states.

An op-ed piece on 2001 results of the Program on International Student Assessment.

The growing resegregation of North Carolina's schools received another legal imprimatur from the federal judiciary in September 2001. Yet the court acknowledged that resegregation was increasing sharply in the Charlotte schools.

In basing so much of his education policy proposal on increased standardized testing, President Bush ignores evidence that relying on more testing degrades the curriculum and particularly harms the poor, immigrants, and people of color.

We have good evidence–from voucher programs in Chile and New Zealand–that large-scale voucher programs will not help the vast majority of poor children and instead will reinforce segregation and inequality. Voucher proponents ignore the complexity of what contributes to student achievement and turn their backs on our goal to build a more democratic society.

President Bush's sweeping education reform proposal is fragmented, incoherent and poorly thought out. It bears all the hallmarks of haste, of ideological rather than logical and systemic thinking. It reveals an extremely limited understanding of how schools work, what education means, or how children learn.

Prestigious leaders of government and industry are once again claiming that American students can't compete in the new economy; once again, they are predicting economic ruin. President Bush believes these Jeremiahs and tells us how he will save America's failing public schools.