"To get a sense of the magnitude of a six-point difference in test scores," announced the evaluators, "consider the much-discussed gap in test scores of blacks and whites. If this gap could be eliminated, it has been shown that average black earnings would increase to approximately 90 percent of white earnings. For this reason, many people feel the closure of the test score gap is one of the most important civil rights objectives remaining."

None of which seems to matter to the teachers' unions, which have dug in their heels in opposition to school vouchers. At bottom, the unions know that the idea of competition can only mean giving up power. So they vigorously oppose vouchers and promise votes to like-minded Democrats.

The recent passage of Washington, D.C's pilot program presents hope for an alternative. Giving parents a choice as to where their children learn would suddenly make public education directly accountable to the consumer. Faced with the prospect of fleeing parents, schools would have to get their act together or risk losing their customer base.

If the Senate approves Washington's voucher program, the idea will soon spread, and we will no longer write off entire generations of poor students just by virtue of their geography

That is, at very least, the beginning of a more equitable society.