| For decades, many policymakers and economists have believed that by introducing choice into the public school system, competition will follow, and school and student achievement will improve. Until 2004, there were three major publicly funded voucher programs, in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and the state of Florida. In addition, many smaller privately funded programs existed, mainly in urban areas, around the United States. In January 2004, the U.S. Congress enacted a new voucher program in Washington, D.C. This study reviews the existing literature on the effectiveness of current voucher programs on individual student and school achievement and describes the new Washington, D.C. program. It analyzes the evolution of this new program, examining various sides of the extensive debate that occurred in Congress from 2002--2004 and the implementation of the program in its first nine months. This study concludes with an analysis of why families have not used vouchers offered to them in the first years of voucher programs and compares these to the reasons that families in Washington, D.C. cited for not using vouchers offered to them in the first year of the D.C. program. The main data sources are published documents, speeches, Congressional records, news articles, and data collected by the Washington, D.C. program administrator in interviews with families who declined to use the first-year vouchers. |
