The most important thing to know about the new $100 million voucher proposal trotted out by Republicans in the House and Senate earlier this week is that it fails the accountability litmus test.
If you're willing to propose a voucher plan that requires private schools accepting voucher students to be held accountable for their success in educating those students, using the same tests and same proficiency standards used to judge public schools, then as far as I'm concerned you deserve a seat at the table for a serious conversation about funding, choice, and how to help students trapped in chronically under-performing schools. I might not agree with all of the specifics of your approach, but we can talk--particularly if you might be so bold as to make part of that funding contingent on performance.
If you're not willing to tie funding to accountability, then you're just grandstanding, trotting out the education equivalent of constitutional amendments to ban flag-burning or discriminate against gay people. That's all this recent proposal really is.
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