Dutcher: Oklahoma Can Learn From Wisconsin’s Education Success
Brandon Dutcher: Mixed success for educational choice in 2014
BY BRANDON DUTCHER
In a visit to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in late May, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker offered a passionate defense of Wisconsin’s statewide school voucher program.
It’s not a matter of public schools versus private schools, Walker said. (His own children went to public schools.) Rather, it’s a matter of ensuring that every family has the opportunity to choose the best school for their son or daughter.
Oklahomans want those opportunities. In December 2013, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice commissioned a statewide survey of Oklahoma voters. The survey was conducted by Braun Research, Inc., a company that’s been used by such research firms as Gallup and the Pew Research Center.
Right now more than nine in 10 Oklahoma students attend a traditional public school. But the survey found Oklahomans want more choices.
The results are especially pronounced among those voters who are paying the closest attention: parents of school-aged children. One in three parents say they would choose a traditional public school for their children. The rest would choose a private school, a charter school or homeschooling.