Opinion
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Corruption in Public Schools Costs Taxpayers, Impedes Reform
Opinion -Ongoing news reports from across the country indicate incidents of corruption and mismanagement in the public schools occur frequently, often on a massive scale. -
Free to Choose
Opinion -Like every other parent, Marie Sanchez wants the best for her children. What makes her unusual is being a public school teacher and an unabashed advocate of parental choice. -
House Renews DC Voucher Funding
Opinion -The U.S. House of Representatives on July 20 renewed funding for President Bush's school voucher program for public school students in the District of Columbia. -
In Indiana, Billboards Tell Parents, ‘You Can Choose’
Opinion -In a public awareness effort to help families in Marion County, Indiana learn how they can help their children access quality educational options, the Indianapolis-based Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation (GEO) in July unveiled its second -
Individual Student Growth Is Focus of California Analysis Model
Opinion -A new report from the San Francisco, California-based Pacific Research Institute urges the state to adopt a school accountability model focused on the progress of individual students toward meeting subject matter proficiency. -
Opponents Make a Federal Case of Arizona’s Tax Credits
Opinion -Arizona's pioneering school choice tax credits must withstand scrutiny of their constitutionality yet again--only this time those passing judgment will be federal, not state, jurists. A 5-4 majority of the U.S. -
Pledge of Allegiance Recited Intact as Schools Reopen This Fall
Opinion -As public schools begin the 2004-05 academic year, teachers and principals are free to lead millions of children in recitation of the "one nation under God" version of the Pledge of Allegiance that the nation's political leaders adopted in 1954. -
Point of View: School Choice Evidence
Opinion -Parents are seizing new opportunities to choose their children's schools through vouchers and charter schools. But does such school choice improve learning and lead to other improvements in schooling? The evidence from a variety of studies shows it does. -
Resolutions Illustrate Teacher Union Views
Opinion -At the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association (NEA), New Business Item (NBI) 5 initially called on NEA to oppose the use of Professor William Sanders' value-added method of measuring student (and teacher) performance. -
School Data Now Available for Decision-Making
Opinion -The growth of the standards and assessment movement is yielding an abundance of school-level student achievement data for parents, educators, and policy makers. Several organizations provide school-level achievement information online. -
States Lower Accountability Bar to Boost Pass Rates
Opinion -Although pass rates on state exams are a key accountability provision of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), several states are weakening that component by lowering the number of correct answers required on accountability exams in order to get more -
States Lower Standards for ‘Highly Qualified’ Teachers
Opinion -Just about everyone agrees that the quality of the teacher in the classroom is by far the most important factor affecting student achievement. -
Teacher Union Gains, Losses Mean Little Membership Growth
Opinion -Figures released at this summer's annual conventions of the nation's two largest teacher unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), show membership increasing only slightly over the previous year. -
Teacher Unions Back Kerry
Opinion -More than six of every seven delegates to the July 3-7 Representative Assembly of the National Education Association (NEA) supported the recommendation of U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) for president of the United States. The 86. -
Trade Unionist McElroy Takes Helm of AFT Labor Union
Opinion -At its July 14-17 convention in Washington DC, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) installed union secretary-treasurer Edward McElroy as president, replacing outgoing president Sandra Feldman, who did not seek reelection due to health concerns. -
U.S. Productivity Soars in Business, Slumps in Education
Opinion -Productivity in the U.S. economy soared an impressive 60 percent over the past three decades in terms of output per hour, but productivity in U.S. -
2000 Parents Rally for Reform in Texas
Opinion -Troubled by the large number of low-performing public schools serving Hispanic students in Texas, an estimated 2,000 Hispanic parents and children from Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio rallied at the state capitol in Austin on May 15 -
Lessons for U.S. as School Choice Spreads Worldwide
Opinion -School choice has taken hold around the globe in many forms. -
Dealing with Social Deficit Disorders
Opinion -The Unwritten Rules of Friendship: Simple Strategies to Help Your Child Make Friends by Natalie Madorsky Elman, Ph.D. and Eileen Kennedy-Moore, Ph.D. ($14. -
Study: School Choice Would Revitalize Ohio Cities
Opinion -Establishing school choice in "education empowerment zones" would revitalize Ohio's six largest cities--Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo--according to a new study by The Buckeye Institute, a public policy think tank in Columbus, -
Exit Exams Don’t Increase Dropouts, Study Finds
Opinion -Critics of high-stakes testing have argued that public high school exit exams cause many students, particularly minority-group members, to drop out in frustration without gaining a diploma that would be valuable to them in the job market. -
Senate Approves IDEA Reforms, Greenspan Addresses Education Needs
Opinion -By a strong bipartisan margin, the Senate on May 13 passed its version of reforms to the nation's special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). -
Two Principals Partner to Produce ‘Wonderful Miracles’
Opinion -More than 90 percent of the 972 students at Larry C. Kennedy Elementary School (LCK) in Phoenix, Arizona are Hispanic, black, or Native American. -
Just the Facts: Sources and Uses of Public Education Dollars
Opinion -Total expenditures on U.S. K-12 public education and other related programs in the 2000-2001 school year were $411.5 billion, up $29.6 billion, or 7.8 percent, from 1999-2000. Total revenues for the same period were 97.
