Voucher students perform no better than their peers in Milwaukee Public Schools, major new study finds

Milwaukee students who participate in the publicly funded private school voucher program perform no better than their peers in Milwaukee Public Schools, according the results of a major new study.

The much-anticipated, privately funded study concludes:

"The primary finding in all of these comparisons is that there is no overall statistically significant difference between MPCP (voucher) and MPS student achievement growth in either math or reading one year after they were carefully matched to each other."

The study is particularly significant because, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, it was funded "primarily by a set of major foundations with interests in education, including some generally considered pro-voucher." Researchers were mostly from the University of Arkansas.

The report was released March 26, 2009, by the conservative Public Policy Forum.