Georgia’s tax credit program strikes me as a terrible example for school choice proponents to champion. It does three things that will make it hard to get folks whose main dog in the school choice fight is the achievement gap to come on board.
First, it includes no accountability for student achievement. None. The kids aren’t tested or checked on academically in any way.
Second, the scholarship organizations are explicitly religious. Their mission statements include their commitment to helping [insert religion, there's a scholarship organization for several] families find schools. It’s ludicrous to think those organizations are seeking and serving all comers.
Third, it’s not restricted to “switchers,” so in many cases it is using tax payer money to fund students already in private schools, making it impossible for it to provide the additional market pressure we hope school choice would bring upon public schools to improve them.
Florida’s CTC program would be a much better model…if it worked to significantly raise student achievement. One of the problems, I think, is that the bar for “effective” has been raised among the achievement gap-focused reform community. Tiny, slow gains like the ones in DC aren’t enough for us. We’ve been dazzled by KIPP and GreenDot like numbers, and knowing what is possible makes it hard to accept less.
