Nobody who knows anything seems to think that voucher and charterization proposals like the ones in the Administration’s NCLB 2 proposals stand a chance in Congress, but I continue not to be convinced. Specialized voucher proposals (for a geographic area, or a particular kind of student) are particularly hard to argue against, especially once you’ve already voted for them (as many in Congress have for Katrina and DC), and are in fact spreading at the state level (Vouchers Eyed for Students With Disabilities EdWeek).
It’s nothing that a few good voucher abuse and ineffectiveness stories wouldn’t erase. My current favorite is the one from Ohio about private school parents enrolling their kids in public schools for the last couple of days of the year in order to qualify for Ohio’s voucher program.