It’s springtime for school reformers and a time for renewal at School Reform News. Beginning with this issue, School Reform News has a new managing editor and The Heartland Institute has a new director of its Center for School Reform.
Managing editor Ben Boychuk has had a lengthy career in journalism and public policy. Boychuk is an award-winning former editorial writer for Investor’s Business Daily and The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California. He’s also the former managing editor of the Claremont Review of Books and writes regular columns on politics and policy for Scripps-Howard News Service and the Sacramento Bee.
Since 1994, Boychuk has been covering school reform issues, from school funding ballot initiatives in California to the expansion of the federal role in education No Child Left Behind.
Expanded Coverage: http://www.schoolreform-news.com
What do these changes mean for School Reform News? In a word: More. More news and information to help readers navigate the shifting and complicated policy landscape of school reform. More insight and expertise from the nation’s foremost school reformers. More vital intelligence on the latest advances in reform at the state level.
Toward that end, we’re expanding our Web footprint at http://www.schoolreform-news.com. There you will find daily news and opinion, videos, interactive polls, a weekly podcast on current school reform issues, and a library of links to experts and the latest policy studies coming from think tanks in all 50 states.
We’re also building a powerful social network devoted to reform. We encourage readers to follow us on Twitter @SchoolReform or join The Heartland Institute’s fan page on Facebook.
Even as the personnel changes, our principles remain unwavering. We still believe improving America’s public and private schools is the most urgent policy challenge facing the nation today. We maintain that traditional proposals—higher spending, smaller class size, tweaking the curriculum—will not improve on the status quo because the problems are deeply structural.
Without question, poor-performing schools jeopardize Americans’ ability not just to compete in a highly competitive marketplace but also to govern ourselves as free and independent people.
As School Reform News carries on through our 13th year of publication, our goal remains exactly as it was when we began: To make School Reform News a one-stop shop and clearinghouse of news and information for policymakers, educators, and activists who are challenging the education establishment and making education safe once again for America’s next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs, and citizens.
