DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Principal Investigator for the Institute of Education Sciences Study at the University of Arkansas Patrick Wolf is the last witness to testify. He is the academic researcher who led the federally mandated evaluation. He says that this is the largest randomized experiment of a school voucher program. He says that the study found that the program had statistically significant positive impact on the use of a scholarship. He says that examining the results over time suggest that the academic gains grow overtime in reading. The …
According to the latest reports from Capitol Hill, House Democrats are busy gutting the Waxman-Markey energy tax bill in an effort to keep its economic costs low. They have a lot of work to do. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis has just completed their study of the March 20th version of the Waxman-Markey legislation and the results are not pretty. Waxman-Markey would: Reduce aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) by $7.4 trillion Destroy 844,000 jobs on average, with peak years seeing unemployment rise by over 1,900,000 jobs Raise electricity …
DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Former-Mayor Tony Williams is the first speaker on panel two. He takes on the common charge that the voucher program was forced on the district by the congress. He says that’s not true, listing the broad support the program had among district leaders at the time. He also points out that there was very strong support among patents. He is pleased to see that after 5 years, the program is working. He says that the mandated evaluation proves the program is a effective in improving …
British Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague recently announced that a future Conservative Government is likely to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, even if it has been ratified by the time of the next General Election. A new Populus poll published in the Times today has revealed that 82% of the British electorate supports a retrospective referendum. At the last general election, all three major political parties were committed to holding a referendum on the European Constitution. After the Constitution’s rejection in referenda in France and Holland, EU leaders …
DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Sen. George Voinivich (R-OH) is giving his statement. He talks about the history. He explains how he signed into law the Cleveland school voucher program as governor. He explains how he had to fight the special interest groups like the NEA. He says that the only opposition to this is politics. Raising his voice, condemning the NEA saying, “They don’t even have the courage to come here today to look Tiffany and Ronald in the eye and tell them why.” The packed room applauds loudly. …
DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Tiffany Dunston says the opportunity scholarship has allowed her to go to college. Sen Lieberman pointed out that she was a valedictorian at arch Bishop Carroll high school. She explains that her nephew, who was on track to go to college, was killed too. She credits the scholarship for giving her a chance to go to college Moving to questions. Sen Lieberman asks Ms Bennett about why she values the program. Ms Bennett says that she found the assigned public school to be unacceptable: disorderly …
A sign of the apocalypse or Washington business as usual? [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvzNj0Vobss[/youtube]
DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Latasha Bennett is the first witness to testify. She explains that she has two children. One is a scholarship student in elementary school. Her younger child is entering kindergarten and can’t get a scholarship. She explains that she is disabled and unable to work and she expresses concern about not being able to afford private schools. She states that she already lost a child to dc public schools. Her nephew (at student at Ballou high school) was gunned down and killed in 2004. She wonders …
“I don’t want to run auto companies.” – President Barack Obama, April 29, 2009. “Obama Halves Chrysler’s Planned Marketing Budget” – Advertising Age, May 11, 2009. Congress should help President Obama stop running auto companies. We must repeal TARP now.
DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) opening statement paraphrased: We tried to make this a balanced hearing, and we invited six represenatitves if the opposition, but no one agreed to testify against it. He noted that they would hear from the evaluator who conducted the department of educations impact study. He is explaining the purpose of the program and the history. Senator Lieberman notes that the federal evaluation found that the program produced statistically significant improvement in reading and parental satisfaction. Lieberman talks about the Obama administrations …
