Opinion
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If the Curriculum Has No Content, What’s Left to Teach?
Opinion -Although U.S. K-12 education has proven remarkably impervious to efforts aimed at structural reform, efforts aimed at curriculum reform have been much more successful. -
Illinois Court Upholds Parental Rights
Opinion -Saying the law violates the due process rights of a surviving parent, the Illinois Supreme Court in April struck down a state statute giving grandparents the right to sue for visitation rights to their grandchildren when one parent is deceased. -
Just the Facts: Student Achievement
Opinion -Just the Facts: Student Achievement ACT Scores SAT Scores National Assessment of Educational Progress Percent scoring at or above proficient ACT Average Composite (2002) % of Grads Tested % of Grads Tested Mean Verbal (2002) Mean Math -
Latest Test Scores Show Value of Tough Curriculum
Opinion -Good news on student performance: This year, 41 percent of high school students who took the SAT test had an A grade point average, compared to only 31 percent 10 years ago. -
Together, We Can Do It: an exclusive interview with U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich
Opinion -“Together, we can do it.” That was U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich’s motto when, at the request of local community leaders, he resigned the job of lieutenant governor of Ohio and took over as mayor of the bankrupt City of Cleveland in 1979. -
U.S. Educators Ignoring the Lessons of History
Opinion -The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. -
Voucher Advocate Takes Charge at Children First America
Opinion -In August, Tampa businessman and leading school choice advocate John Kirtley was named president and CEO of Children First America (CFA), a school choice organization formed 10 years ago to extend nationwide the privately funded scholarship model created -
Teachers Shortchanged by Education Bureaucracy
Opinion -The Education Intelligence Agency recently issued a report that presents education statistics from a different angle, ranking states and school districts by measures such as teacher compensation as a percentage of instructional spending, number of -
Disabled Children Need a Better IDEA
Opinion -It began in 1975 as a federal enactment intended to safeguard the individual rights of disabled children. -
Camden Is First to Call for Vouchers
Opinion -The first shot fired in the post-Cleveland phase of the school voucher battle was heard in the City Council Chambers of Camden, New Jersey, on July 25, less than a month after the U.S. -
Feds Plan to Ease Restrictions on Single-Sex Schools
Opinion -The U.S. Department of Education has announced it intends to relax regulations on single-sex schools and classes while continuing to prohibit discrimination in accordance with the Education Amendments of 1972. -
Judge Strikes Down Florida Voucher Law
Opinion -On August 5, just weeks before the start of the school year, a state judge in Tallahassee ruled Florida’s Opportunity Scholarship program unconstitutional, since the state constitution forbids the use of tax money to send children to religious schools. -
Blaine Amendment Falls in Washington
Opinion -On July 18, just three weeks after the Court’s landmark Zelman ruling, members of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit voted 2-1 to invalidate a Washington State law that was used to deny a state “Promise Scholarship” to an -
Presidential Commission Reports on Special Education
Opinion -A Presidential panel in July established markers that may prove crucial as Congress undertakes its reauthorization of special-education programs over the coming months. -
The Model for the Nation: an exclusive interview with Annette Polly Williams
Opinion -Thirteen years ago, Wisconsin State Representative Annette Polly Williams, an independent black Democrat from Milwaukee, took an historic step that earned her the title, “the Rosa Parks of vouchers. -
Boys Lag Behind, but Extra Help Goes to Girls
Opinion -While major newspapers reported boys falling behind girls in graduation rates and other key academic indicators, the U.S. -
Calculating NEA and AFT “Market Share” by State
Opinion -The clout of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers is primarily due to the manpower and financial resources of their vast membership. It is obviously in the unions’ interest to magnify their numbers as much as possible. -
The Friedman Report: School Choice Roundup
Opinion -In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27 decision—that the inclusion of religious schools in the Cleveland school voucher program is a legitimate exercise of state authority under the U.S. -
Spending on Public Schools Soars
Opinion -Although lawmakers are frequently criticized for not spending enough on public education, recently published statistics from the U.S. -
Schaffer Introduces Tuition Tax Credit Proposal
Opinion -Last year’s No Child Left Behind Act gave parents new accountability tools to keep informed about their children’s schools. -
SRN Just the Facts: Public Education Revenues Hit $400 Billion
Opinion -Total taxpayer funds flowing into public schools in the United States increased 24.5 percent over a five-year period, reaching in 2001-02 an estimated $405.8 billion: $8,529 per pupil, $135,791 per teacher. -
Paige Calls for Overhaul of Teacher Certification
Opinion -Armed with a new report showing states generally set low academic standards for entry into the teaching profession, U.S. -
Voucher ‘Experiments’ Don’t Test Competition
Opinion -Revolution at the Margins by Frederick Hess (The Brookings Institution, 2002 268 pages, $18. -
School Choice for Me, But Not for Thee
Opinion -President George W. Bush’s Fiscal 2003 budget calls for a $50 million school choice demonstration project and an education tax credit for parents whose children are trapped in failing schools.
