Fourteen years ago Milwaukee made national news by switching to a voucher system that provides state money to poor parents to send their kids to private schools. This is the same type of system that many in Washington hope to impose upon many of us once the No Child Left Behind law attains its goal of dismantling the public school system. A story in today's Globe, however, reported that the Milwaukee voucher system has been plagued by scandals. The principal of one private school financed by vouchers is a convicted rapist who served ten years in prison before transitioning to his current situation (principals and teachers in these private schools are not required to undergo criminal background checks). Another principal continued to cash the checks he was receiving for hundreds of students who had withdrawn from the school. He used some of this money to buy a couple of Mercedes-Benzes for himself and his assistant principal. And this is how the powers that be in Washington want to reform our education system.