School vouchers don't just undermine public schools, they undermine our democracy

Kevin Carey was mentioned in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times about how school vouchers may harm, rather than help, student achievement. 

In April, the research arm of the Department of Education released a study of the federally mandated voucher program in Washington. It showed voucher students did worse in math than similar public school students, and it adds to a growing body of education research that concludes that vouchers may harm rather than help student achievement. In fact, the results of voucher tests, compared with other reforms, are the worst in the history of the field, according to Kevin Carey, education policy director at New America.

Administration officials have suggested what amounts to a “back door” way to increase the reach of vouchers: tax credits for corporations and the rich who contribute to third-party voucher funds. The nation’s School Superintendents Assn. looked at states where such credits are already in place and found that, in some cases, the donors have been able to make a profit off the backs of taxpayers and ultimately kids. And what Carey calls the “shell game” of moving money through these funds makes it difficult to account for how the money is spent.