Opinion
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Oregon Should Follow the Example of Florida, Outsource Human Resource Services
Opinion -A tax recall vote on Oregon’s February 3 ballot is just one indication that taxpayers nationwide prefer spending cuts, rather than tax increases, for balancing state budgets. -
Cook County Board Considers Compromise to Cut Spending
Opinion -On December 15, a respected Chicago civic institution offered the Cook County (Illinois) Board of Commissioners advice on how to balance its fiscal 2004 budget with spending cuts, not tax hikes. -
Oakland Mayor Floats Sin Taxes on Junk Food and Drinking
Opinion -Oakland, California Mayor Jerry Brown has recommended the state solve its budget woes by exploiting residents’ bad habits, by taxing behaviors such as drinking and eating junk food. -
Spending Our Future Tax Cuts?
Opinion -Not too long ago, conservative lawmakers talked about enacting new tax cuts each and every year of the Bush administration. The White House has been led by a President who fought for the second largest tax cut in history ... -
Former Senator, Friend of Taxpayer Dies
Opinion -Former U.S. Senator William V. Roth Jr., a fighter for tax cuts and IRS reformer during his five terms in Congress and creator of the popular retirement account that bears his name, died on December 13. He was 82. -
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 -
Walberg Nominated to National Education Board
Opinion -Herbert J. Walberg, chairman of The Heartland Institute, the publisher of School Reform News, has been nominated by President George W. Bush to a three-year term on the National Board for Education Sciences. -
02/2004 Friedman Report Profile: Doug Holmes, Education Excellence Utah
Opinion -“For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root. -
Who Needs School Choice?
Opinion -A single mother of two girls, Caitlin and Faith, and one boy, Jacob, Yvonne Trujillo is struggling to give her children the hope she enjoyed as a little girl. Growing up, Yvonne attended Annunciation School, a Catholic school in Denver, Colorado. -
Education Next Offers Research, Commentary, Reform
Opinion -The Winter 2004 issue of the scholarly journal, Education Next, has been published by the Hoover Institution. -
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! -
Weight Restrictions Not Pound Foolish
Opinion -According to a panicky report in the press, our society is in the grips of another terrible crisis: weight restrictions for players on youth football teams. -
FDA Mercury Warning Based on Junk Science, Experts Say
Opinion -The Food and Drug Administration has issued a new warning to pregnant women about mercury in seafood. You can “protect your baby” from developmental harm by following three rules, the agency claimed. -
CBO Hangs Price Tag on Tougher Fuel Economy Standards
Opinion -According to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates released on January 5, a federally mandated increase in corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for cars and light trucks would raise average vehicle prices $228, costing consumers an -
Bush EPA Steps Up Enforcement, New Focus on Benefits
Opinion -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Fiscal Year 2003 Annual Report on December 11. -
Bush Declines to Issue Wetlands Regulations
Opinion -Responding to pressure from environmental activists and many congressional Democrats, President George W. Bush instructed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers not to issue new regulations interpreting the U.S. -
Tahoe Regulators Say Fire a Greater Threat than Pollution
Opinion -The Tahoe Regional Planning Authority (TRPA), established by Congress in 1969 to safeguard Lake Tahoe’s breathtaking clarity and natural beauty, has for the first time concluded that fire, rather than pollution, represents the greatest threat to -
‘Best Practices’ Provoke Controversy, Opposition
Opinion -The notion of “best practices” is an emerging concept in health care policy and practice. Exactly what it means and how it will affect patient care are open to debate.