Time for something we don’t do often enough on the Media Blog: Give credit where credit is due. The New York Times didn’t have to follow-up on the DC school-voucher program Congress created two years ago. And once it did follow-up, it certainly didn’t have to run the piece. It also had the option of slanting the piece or loading it up with irrelevant information to make the program look bad. But the NYT’s examination of the program is fair to all sides of the debate, and concludes that the program has become hugely popular with minority parents:
Amie is one of about 1,700 low-income, mostly minority students in Washington who at taxpayer expense are attending 58 private and parochial schools through the nation’s first federal voucher program, now in its second year.
Last year, parents appeared lukewarm toward the program, which was put in place by Congressional Republicans as a five-year pilot program, But this year, it is attracting more participation, illustrating how school-choice programs are winning over minority parents, traditionally a Democratic constituency.
Kudos to the NYT for giving this program a fair-minded evaluation.