Opinion
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Florida Reforming Its Privatization Efforts
Opinion -On March 11, Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed an executive order directing the state's Department of Management Services to create a "center of excellence" authorized to conduct a statewide evaluation of Florida's outsourcing efforts. -
Fuller and Hanushek Win Awards for Educational Excellence
Opinion -On February 10 in Washington DC, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation awarded the second annual Fordham Prizes for Excellence in Education to Howard L. Fuller and Eric A. Hanushek, for valor and for distinguished scholarship respectively. -
Global Warming Fears Melting
Opinion -New data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and studies appearing in two respected scientific journals raise serious questions about the science underlying alarmist predictions of global warming. -
Group Names Property Rights Champions
Opinion -The League of Private Property Voters (LPPV) has named 192 U.S. Representatives and 35 U.S. Senators "Champions" for property rights issues. -
Health Threat of Mercury Overblown, Scientists Say
Opinion -Controversy over the health effects of mercury in fish and shellfish and the Bush administration's plan to reduce mercury emissions by utilities dominated the debate over environmental policy in recent weeks. -
How Teachers Are Paid: The Salary Grid
Opinion -Although teacher pay varies by state and by school district, virtually all public schools in the U.S. employ a rigid salary grid to determine the teacher salaries paid in a specific district. -
How to Reduce Revenue Instability
Opinion -The proponents of new or different taxes in Oregon claim the income tax is "unstable because it produces excess revenue in boom times and shows sharp declines in times of recession." That is undeniably true. -
Inside and Outside: School Choice from Two Perspectives
Opinion -As a former teacher and now resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Frederick Hess has spent time both inside and outside the public education machine--teaching students in the classroom, and developing education policy in a think tank. -
Iowa Legislators Debate Restrictions on Hog Farm Pollution
Opinion -The Iowa House of Representatives held public hearings March 8 regarding legislation to regulate air pollutants emanating from hog farms. -
Kansas Lawmakers Reject School Finance Myths
Opinion -On March 11, the Kansas House of Representatives rejected a $1 billion tax hike proposal for financing the Shawnee Mission school district, which has the second-largest student enrollment in the state. -
Kentucky Governor Unveils Tax Reform Plan
Opinion -Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher unveiled a far-reaching "tax modernization plan" during a news conference on March 11 in Frankfort. -
Kerry’s $895 Billion Waffle
Opinion -During his campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for President, Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) took a narrowly defined position on health care reform, carefully avoiding anything that looked like a re-run of the failed Clinton reform project. -
Medicare Will Be Bankrupt by 2019
Opinion -Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW)--the 20-year-old watchdog group dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government--on March 25 criticized national leaders for "overseeing the fiscal deterioration of the Medicare -
New Study First to Affirm Value of National Teacher Certification
Opinion -For the first time since the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) came into being in 1987, a large-scale study has found teachers who win its certification "appear to be," on average, more effective than their non-certified -
NFIB Praises Senator Nickles for Death Tax Repeal Effort
Opinion -The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) on March 8 praised U.S. Senator Don Nickles (R-Oklahoma) for including in the Senate's 2005 budget a provision that would accelerate by one year complete repeal of the federal estate tax. -
Other Teacher Union News
Opinion -Michigan Education Association Lawsuit Dismissed On March 18, the Michigan Court of Appeals dismissed a Michigan Education Association (MEA) lawsuit against the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. -
Poll Shows Ohioans Favor Spending Restraint, Oppose Tax Increases
Opinion -Ohio citizens believe the state is going in the wrong direction, and economic concerns trump other issues, according to poll results released on February 25 by the Columbus-based Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions. -
Public Education’s ‘Broken Promise’
Opinion -The underlying promise of the nation's commitment to free K-12 education is to give everyone a shot at the American Dream by providing each child with the opportunity to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to meet the demands of the adult world. -
Putting Taxpayers First
Opinion -1. Eliminate unnecessary and wasteful programs. The federal budget currently consists of several thousand line item agencies, bureaus, offices, and grant programs. Over the past 20 years very few of these programs have actually ceased operation. -
Reps Warn Foreign Capital Will Leave if IRS Regulation Is Not Withdrawn
Opinion -Led by Rep. Mark Green (R-Wisconsin), a member of the House Banking and Financial Services Committee, 28 members of the U.S. -
Restricting Nevada Growth Would Cause Economic Drought, Study Concludes
Opinion -Greater Las Vegas, the nation's fastest growing metropolis, would suffer dire economic consequences if anti-growth activists succeed in restricting future growth, according to a study commissioned by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). -
Suburban Development Benefits Wildlife
Opinion -A decade ago, who would have thought New Jersey would host a black bear hunt--the first in 33 years? Or that Virginia, whose population of bald eagles was once down to 32 breeding pairs, would have 329 known active bald eagle nests? -
Treasury Secretary Says Make Tax Cuts Permanent
Opinion -On March 25, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow hailed President George W. Bush's tax cuts in an essay published by Newsday.com. -
Lawsuit Abuse Fortnightly #3-3
Opinion -Lottery Lunacy For years a Cleveland man purchased between 40 and 55 lottery tickets four times a week at the same convenience store trying to win the Ohio Buckeye Five lottery. He played the same five numbers on each and every ticket he bought.