These are some of the results we see following the passage of Article 31. Many of the funds distributed under Article 31 are targeted to under-resourced districts with large numbers of underprivileged students. The report confirms the effectiveness of the state role in targeting education dollars and the importance of staying the course over a significant period of time in policies involving standards, assessment, and accountability. The states that have shown the strongest gains began implementing reform policies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Public education reform is slow and it is costly.
Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent.
Where we have targeted our resources, where we have applied the right levers, where we have created true learning communities, we are getting results. On the contrary. This is not the time to leap to unproven strategies such as vouchers as a panacea. The state is already actively experimenting with public charter schools and monitoring results. Our public school population is growing in number and diversity.