Thread by @DavidWMcAvoy

1) Vouchers are a scam with a long history of documented failure. Despite all the disingenuous claims made by their advocates they have been tried many times and each time failed to produce the promised results. But they’ve often had consequences for students…

2) Vouchers have already been tried in states like Wisconsin, Ohio, in the District of Columbia, etc. In each instance they failed to produce much noticeable achievement in student performance on tests or in essential subjects.

3) The final congressional required evaluation for the DC voucher program, for example, concluded that there was no conclusive evidence that it affected student achievement”.

4) More concerning is the performance of the “McKay Scholarship” voucher program in Florida, particularly since Gov Sanders and her education secretary seem determined to import a Florida style mess to Arkansas.

5) The Florida voucher program was provided for students with disabilities. Remember how Arkansas Republicans killed an effort to provide accountability from private schools looking to rake in public money? Well they did that in Florida too and it was a disaster.

6) The Miami New Times investigated and reported the voucher scheme was “a cottage industry of fraud and chaos”. Schools could qualify for vouchers with no accreditation or curriculum. Some admins even had criminal records. Feel good about what the gov/leg have planned now?

7) It didn’t get better from there. When you open the public trough up to hogs expect them to make a mess. When education becomes about making a buck, expect people to not actually teach but just stick your kids some place and rake in the money.

8) That’s a big part of the reason we have public, nonprofit schools with elected school boards and accountability rather than a system of private, for profit education.

9) Back in Florida, the MNT further found that kids on the voucher program just sat watching old videos, filling out work books, and sometimes left running around the park rather than being taught. Parents were scammed, the public was ripped off, and kids neglected.

10) What’s more, Republican legislators, insulated in rigged districts and getting campaign contributions from the same people making money off those scam schools, didn’t care and voted to expand the program. When government is corrupted, expect money making scams to thrive.

11) This is what Gov Sanders and Republican legislators are trying to bring here: a big money making scheme sold with lies that will defund our schools, scam concerned parents, rip off the public, and hurt kids and our future. #arpx #arleg

12) For further reading on past voucher scheme failures, including Florida’s ghastly record, highly recommend reading “Reign of Error” by former Assistant Secretary of Ed Diane Ravitch.