This country can ill afford such a regress. It is becoming more evident that throwing money at education problems is not the critical variable. Dollars are not irrelevant, but after a certain minimum is met, affluence alone won't get it done. Yet Utah's standardized test scores can wallop New Jersey's any day. The latest Harvard research, however, controlled for that effect by a random assignment of already interested parties.
Results are preliminary, but strikingly good news.
Kids in voucher schools did better than their comparable peers, and the improvement was greatest among those most at need. It's not the whole story yet, but we're on to something here. Schools are limited in the miracles they can work. Our job is learn what works and what doesn't, and then have the courage to act on that knowledge. David Murray is director of the Statistical Assessment Service in Washington.