Opinion
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School Safety: Students Slain Following Threats, Harassment
Opinion -Last December 11, officials at Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond, Virginia reportedly heard an angry 16-year-old Philip Hicks threaten to stab his 15-year-old classmate, Justin Creech, because of a dispute over a girl. -
School Safety: Unsafe Food
Opinion -California may have a problem with keeping school bathrooms clean, but Chicago has a problem with keeping school kitchens clean. -
Oklahoma Teacher Salaries Compare Favorably to Other States
Opinion -In May 2003 the National Education Association reported Oklahoma is “47th in the nation in public school teacher pay.” According to the NEA, “Oklahoma’s average teacher salary ($34,744) is just 78 percent of the national average ($44,683). -
Congress Returns to Challenges Old and New
Opinion -January marked the second anniversary of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). President George W. -
‘No Child Left Behind’ Fuels Fierce Debate
Opinion -The bouquets and brickbats No Child Left Behind (NCLB) received on its second birthday in early January intensified a debate over the federal education law that is likely to last throughout this Presidential election year. -
Congress May Address Soaring College Costs
Opinion -Amid concerns about the soaring cost of college, Congress this year is expected to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), which provides guaranteed loans, grants, and support services to college students and their families. -
Leading Democrat Offers Choice Bill in New Mexico
Opinion -In a move that could signal a major change in the politics of school choice, New Mexico Senate Majority Leader Manny M. -
The 5Ws of the DC School Choice Incentive Act
Opinion -In the journalistic tradition of the 5Ws (plus one “H”), here are the basics of the school voucher program for the District of Columbia that Congress included in its omnibus appropriations act of 2004 and that President George W. -
California Schools Take Six Years to Build
Opinion -A new study from the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) reports it takes six years or longer to build a school in California. -
School Safety: Unsafe Structures
Opinion -Many students could have been injured last October when a 30-foot span of ceiling collapsed in a school library built by the Miami-Dade County Public School District (MDCPS) only five years earlier. -
Schools Are More Dangerous Than Data Suggest
Opinion -Last fall, every state was required by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to identify schools with a “persistently dangerous” atmosphere so parents would have a better idea of whether their children were being educated in a safe learning environment. -
School Choice Offers Flexibility for an Autistic Child
Opinion -Some children aren’t ready for public schools, and public schools aren’t ready for some children. Carson Smith is one of those children. Three years ago, Carson was like most two-year-olds: He liked to put things into his mouth. -
Homeschooler Wins Bill of Rights Day Contest
Opinion -Andrew Ausley, a homeschooled student from Niceville, Florida, won a $500 scholarship in December for the best essay on the topic, “Synergism Within the Bill of Rights. -
Fighting Fads by Informing Consumers: an exclusive interview with J.E. Stone
Opinion -Starting with the Milwaukee voucher program some 15 years ago, new school choice programs--whether vouchers, tax credits, or charter schools--have been subjected to an almost constant barrage of criticism from opponents who have demanded the programs -
Illinois Governor Proposes Takeover of Board of Education
Opinion -In a January 15 State of the State address that stunned many, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) dropped what one senator called an “atomic bomb” on the state department of education. -
School Figures Throws Light on Reform Issues
Opinion -School Figures: The Data behind the Debate Hanna Skandera and Richard Sousa Hoover Institution Press, 2003, $15. -
Supreme Court Hears Free Exercise Case
Opinion -On December 2, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the matter of Locke v. Davey, a case whose outcome has significant implications for the future of publicly funded school vouchers. -
Competition Arrives for Teacher Certification
Opinion -Schools of education and allied accreditation and teacher licensing agencies now face a competitor who is challenging their longtime role as exclusive gatekeepers to public school teaching. -
ALEC Issues Report Card on American Education
Opinion -“[T]he past two decades’ massive infusion of public dollars into K-12 education has done nothing to improve student performance as measured by nationally standardized tests. -
In DC Schools, Grade-Tampering ‘May Have Occurred Undetected’
Opinion -Before he resigned in late 2003, Washington, DC Superintendent Paul Vance ordered a review of high school records after teachers from one local high school complained the grades they had given to students--grades that might have kept some students from -
Most Children Left Behind in Urban Public Schools
Opinion -Although presented to the public in positive, sometimes glowing terms, the first-ever reports of comparable data on reading and mathematics achievement in 10 of the nation’s largest urban school districts reveal the staggering extent of the failure of -
School Choice Programs Tighten Accountability Measures
Opinion -Florida’s three school choice programs recently have been the subject of several negative reports in the Palm Beach Post and other local newspapers, pointing out the failure of state officials to provide oversight. -
Citizenship and Character
Opinion -The Founding Fathers don’t get much respect these days. -
The Six Pillars of Character
Opinion -For character education, many schools have adopted the Character Counts! program from the Josephson Institute of Ethics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in Marina del Rey, California. The Institute and its partners in the Character Counts!
