New Report Examines 'Two Roads To Reform'; Compares Research on Vouchers, Class Size

5/23/2002

From: Nathan Richter or Matt Jacob, 202-467-4999, both of People For the American Way Foundation

WASHINGTON, May 23 -- Today, the Heritage Foundation hosts researcher Paul Peterson to tout another in a series of Peterson reports about the supposed benefits of school voucher programs. Regardless of the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of Cleveland's voucher program (due within the next month), voucher proponents are laying the groundwork for a major initiative.

Unfortunately for voucher supporters, there is little or no evidence that voucher programs have led to any meaningful gains in academic achievement. The flaws in Peterson's studies have been well documented by other researchers.

Meanwhile, the research on significant class-size reduction is far more substantial, and the results are far more encouraging. Programs that significantly reduce class size in the early grades have been shown to reduce the black-white achievement gap -- and students benefit long after they return to larger classes.

Today, People For the American Way Foundation is releasing a brief report (http://www.pfaw.org/issues/education/vouchers/TwoRoads052302.pdf), "Two Roads to Reform," that summarizes and contrasts the research on vouchers and class-size reduction programs as strategies for improving academic achievement.

Additional reports on vouchers, tuition tax credits, and other education policy questions are available at: http://www.pfaw.org/issues/education/