Not really, according to a new study that compared test results of Cleveland's public school students with those attending private schools using a voucher.
Cleveland third- and fourth-graders scored higher than the sample of voucher students in both reading and math. In the fifth through eighth grades, voucher students fared better by 3 to 8 percentage points in reading, but they trailed by up to 12 points in math.
The promise of greater academic outcomes is one of the most common arguments used by voucher proponents to justify sending public money to private schools. In test cases, though, it's just not happening. To be fair, this test provides only a snapshot, not a track of student development over time, but there is surely no evidence here to suggest vouchers are effective at doing anything beyond enriching private school coffers at the expense of public resources.
