Opinion
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Beyond Affirmative Action
Opinion -The angry affirmative-action dispute between the U.S. -
Governors Call for Reform
Opinion -At its annual winter meeting in Washington, the National Governors’ Association (NGA) on February 22 overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging Congress “to immediately pass regulatory reform legislation that would require federal regulatory agencies -
Concern Grows Over EPA’s Handling of Sludge
Opinion -Regulations frequently have unintended consequences, and EPA’s little-noticed Sludge 503 Rule may soon come back to haunt the agency. -
Abysmal Performance Plagues DC Schools
Opinion -Despite per-pupil spending levels that are among the highest in the nation, 1996-97 achievement scores released last December show that students in the District of Columbia’s public schools continue to perform at abysmally low levels in math and -
DC Board Oversteps Authority on Schools
Opinion -When Congress appointed a financial control board to assume responsibility for the District of Columbia’s municipal government in 1995, the board was granted “extraordinary” powers to address the city’s near financial collapse. -
Future of School Choice Visible in Michigan
Opinion -In a notable February 3 editorial, The Detroit News urged policy-makers and politicians to recognize that “the tide has shifted” in the school choice movement and that it no longer consists of “academics and think tank executives discussing scholarly -
04/1998 School Choice Roundup
Opinion -Alabama * California * Illinois * Indiana * Massachusetts New York * Ohio * Texas * Wisconsin ALABAMA Working for the Government Charged Three Alabama citizens filed suit on January 20 against 21 state legislators, accusing them of violating -
States Should Take Lead on Environmental Enforcement, Industry Group Says
Opinion -Adding its voice to the growing chorus calling for devolution of environmental decision-making from Washington to state and local governments, an industry group has recommended giving states the lead role in enforcing the nation’s environmental -
Earth Day Events Show New Side of Environmental Movement
Opinion -As they have done each year on April 22 since 1970, environmentalists across the nation will celebrate Earth Day by staging events aimed at raising public awareness of environmental issues. -
The Detroit Partnership for Parental Choice
Opinion -The Detroit Partnership for Parental Choice hosted the January 31 “Choosing Our Future” conference at Detroit's Cobo Hall. -
Former Congressman Urges Pastors to Support Choice
Opinion -Saying that Texas can lead the way in school choice, the Rev. -
Rebuilding from the Roots
Opinion -The Educational Freedom Foundation’s fundraising efforts have begun to bear fruit with several significant contributions, according to EFF chairman Herman L. Kriegshauser and president Martin L. Duggan. -
Bilingual Ed Beneficial in Early Grades
Opinion -Students with Limited-English Proficiency who are taught using at least some of their native language perform significantly better on English-language standardized tests than similar children taught in English-only programs, according to a new study -
Family Owes $35,000 for Attending Wrong NJ School
Opinion -An immigrant family from Afghanistan found that America's promise of a free public education for their children was a false one when an administrative judge ruled that they owed New Jersey's Belleville school district $35,466 for inadvertently living -
NY Schools Fail Racial, Ethnic Minorities
Opinion -A new study calls for more parental choice in schooling to address a widening and persistently large “literacy gap” that divides two “separate and unequal school systems” in New York state--a largely successful one serving mostly white pupils and -
Improving Math Education
Opinion -Responding to the recently released Third International Mathematics and Science Study, U.S. -
Tired of Illiteracy, States Prescribe Phonics
Opinion -Although a panel of national experts on reading recently called for "an end to the reading wars," their plea for a cease-fire came too late for many lawmakers, who had already concluded that the battle was over, with phonics triumphant and whole -
U.S. Twelfth-Graders Flunk International Math and Science Test
Opinion -While the accumulation of gold, silver, and bronze medals at the February Winter Olympic Games showed that U.S. -
Ridge Supports Local Scholarship Plan in Pennsylvania
Opinion -At a special meeting on March 18, the Southeast Delco school board thrust residents of four small Pennsylvania towns into the national educational choice debate by approving local tuition scholarships for district parents whose children attend public, -
Phonics vs. Whole Language
Opinion -The phonics-based approach to reading instruction starts with a child learning the sounds of letters and then using this explicitly learned decoding skill as a basis to progress to reading words on a page and understanding their meaning. -
Chicago Limits Bilingual Education to Three Years
Opinion -Concerned that the longer students remain in bilingual education the more they fall behind academically, the Chicago Board of Education on February 25 unanimously approved a new policy to limit bilingual classes to three years, with extra tutoring -
Public Schools Outsource Education of “Difficult” Students
Opinion -Although opponents of educational choice insist that public schools are required to take every student and that tax dollars must never flow to private or religious institutions, the actions of public schools in at least seven states seriously undermine -
‘Research’ Is Inconclusive on High Schoolers
Opinion -After three years of research and at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, a major U.S. Department of Education study of how to teach Limited-English Proficient high school students fails to pass judgment on which programs work and which don’t. -
Scientists Dump Cold Water on Environmental, Health Scares
Opinion -It’s been a difficult couple of months for purveyors of junk science and others actively spreading scientific misinformation on environmental issues.