Archive for April, 2009

[New Berlin, Wisconsin...] Wisconsin’s educational system could see dramatic improvements if the state were to follow Florida’s education reform lead, according to a new report issued by the MacIver Institute.

“Wisconsin has long prided itself on being a progressive state; however, in K-12 education Wisconsin needs much more progress,” said Matthew Ladner, the report’s author. “Florida’s decade of education reform demonstrates just how much progress could be achieved.”

On Wednesday, the Wisconsin-based free market, pro-liberty think tank, issued a report authored by the Goldwater Institute’s Ladner, which compared Wisconsin and Florida’s position on three key issues: Academic Standards, Alternative Certification and School Choice.

Wisconsin lags the sunshine state in all three areas.

“Florida students are improving academically at a significantly higher rate than Wisconsin students,” the report concludes. “In addition, children from minority populations are making the greatest improvements, demonstrating that Florida is making progress in the reduction of the achievement gap.  The aggressive education reforms implemented by Florida policymakers over the past decade appear to be having a positive impact.”

The gap between the achievement of minority students in Wisconsin and their counterparts is among the widest in the nation. To close the achievement gap, the MacIver Report suggests Wisconsin follow Florida’s lead in three areas:

• On School Choice, the comparison between Florida and Wisconsin actually involves what Florida did right, rather than what Wisconsin did wrong. Both states have pursued expanded parental choice options, but Florida has simply done more.
• Alternative certification opens whole new pools of talent for entry into the profession. When judging the racial and ethnic composition of the teaching workforce compared to that of their population over the age of 21, Florida, which has embraced genuine alternative certification for teachers, has one of the most racially integrated public school teaching forces in the nation. By contrast, Wisconsin schools have only half the number of minority teachers as there are minority adults, aged 21 and older, in the population.
• The report finds the largest gap comes when comparing the states’ academic standards. In fact, Wisconsin’s accountability standards are embarrassingly far off from Florida’s; with what might be the most lax academic standards in the country.

“When we commissioned this report, we had hoped to find results that would spur debate and lead to real efforts to improve education in Wisconsin,” said MacIver President Brett Healy. “It is clear that policymakers from Wisconsin and across the country should study Florida’s model and implement similar systemic reforms.”

The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy is a Wisconsin-based think tank that believes in free markets, individual freedom and responsible government.

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Find the paper here: MacIver Report Wisc./Fla.

MADISON – Everyone pays when someone drops out of school. That is the sobering conclusion of a study jointly released today by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and the MacIver Institute for Public Policy. The newly released study details the impact dropouts have on tax revenues, Medicaid costs, and incarceration costs. All told, the report concludes that Wisconsin could save $395 million each year by improving graduation rates.

“High School dropouts dramatically impact Wisconsin’s finances,” said the study’s author, Emily House. “Each student who fails to graduate from high school produces direct costs to taxpayers through lower tax revenues and greater social costs.”

The report finds that dropouts cost the state of Wisconsin $121 million in tax revenue each year due to lower wages. Because the average dropout earns approximately $10,000 less per year than a high school graduate, the report estimates that if all the high school dropouts did graduate from high school, earnings in Wisconsin would increase by almost $4.5 billion.

“This increase in earnings could be reinvested in the Wisconsin economy, resulting in job and wage growth, as well as increased productivity and revenue from taxation,” said House.

In addition, because high school dropouts are much more likely to rely on public programs such as Medicaid, social costs are increased. Approximately 40-percent of high school dropouts receive Medicaid benefits, as opposed to about 15% of high school graduates. The difference, according to the study, is an extra $120 million each year.

Higher incarceration rates also put an added financial burden on taxpayers. Because dropouts are statistically much more likely to be incarcerated than high school graduates, the study estimates that there would be 5000 fewer inmates if Wisconsin’s graduation rate was 100 percent. Such a drop in the inmate population would save an additional $154 million in incarceration costs each year.

“While most people understand the personal consequences of dropping out of school, less emphasis has been placed on the public cost of decreasing graduation rates,” said MacIver Institute President Brett Healy. “Our hope is that once people understand the tangible costs on each taxpayer, efforts at reform can move forward.”

The author of the report, Emily House, is a Fellow with the Friedman Foundation for Education Choice, a non-profit organization established in 1996 and founded upon the ideals of Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman and economist Rose Friedman

The MacIver Institute is named after John K. MacIver, who was a sterling example of the public spirited citizen. The MacIver Institute is a 501 c3 charitable foundation. For more information on this research report – or to view the entire report – please click the link below.

Drop Out Study PDF