Opinion
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5,000 Parents, Children Rally for School Choice in Texas
Opinion -Five thousand parents and children from across Texas attended a school choice rally at the State Capitol on February 7, asking legislators to allow them to use tax dollars to send their children to better schools. -
Georgia Floats Special-Needs Scholarship Bill
Opinion -Disabled children in Georgia may soon have access to a similar range of educational choices as their Florida neighbors, if a state legislative proposal wins final support. -
Schools Succeed With Nontraditional Teachers
Opinion -Douglas County, Colorado's nontraditional teacher preparation program has blossomed with the new Castle View High School in Castle Rock. -
Medicare Part D Costs $136B Less than Estimated
Opinion -A report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on January 24 reveals Medicare Part D costs are substantially lower than federal officials estimated they would be, thanks in part to free-market forces at work in the plan. -
Texas HPV Vaccine Mandate Angers Many
Opinion -Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) circumvented the state legislature in early February when he issued an executive order making vaccination against a sexually transmitted virus a requirement for girls entering sixth grade, beginning September 2008. -
Lawmakers: Beware of Regulating Wireless Networks
Opinion -A recent paper by Columbia Law School Professor Tim Wu discusses “Wireless Net Neutrality.” He suggests that several features of the U.S. wireless industry may be harming consumers. -
April 2007 School Reform News
Opinion -The April 2007 issue of School Reform News highlights school voucher rallies in South Carolina and Texas and voucher proposals in Georgia, Maryland and Utah. -
Asbestos Removal: Our Most Costly Environmental Scam
Opinion -This article is the tenth in a continuing series excerpted from the book Smoke or Steam: A Guide to Environmental, Regulatory and Food Safety Concerns, by Samuel Aldrich, excerpted and abridged by Jay Lehr. -
College Credit Plan for Connecticut High School Students Proposed
Opinion -Should a new proposal from Connecticut's Yankee Institute for Public Policy ever become law, the Nutmeg State might have a lot of high school seniors sitting in college classes. -
Debate Continues Over Citizenship Education
Opinion -Review of Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives Edited by James A. -
Details Missing on Coalition Plan for Calif. Uninsured
Opinion -In January, a group of the nation's top health care organizations forged a coalition, the Health Coverage Coalition for the Uninsured (HCCU), proposing a plan to provide insurance coverage to all Americans, starting with California. But unlike Gov. -
Evangelical Group Denies Backing Global Warming Agenda
Opinion -On January 17 a small group of high-profile environmental activists and evangelicals announced an alliance against greenhouse gas emissions, but spokesmen for leading religious organizations quickly countered that the individuals do not speak for any -
In the News
Opinion -More Voters Rely on the ‘Net Roughly 15 percent of Americans used the Internet as their “primary” source of news during the recent midterm elections, more than double the 7 percent reported four years ago. -
Leave No TV Behind?
Opinion -Remember that old television in your basement, the one you bought when “Cheers” was the top sitcom? It might soon be eligible for federal aid to ensure it works in the digital era. -
Merit Pay for Teachers Improves Student Achievement in Arkansas
Opinion -Merit pay programs for teachers result in a better work environment for teachers and better test scores for students, according to a study released in mid-January by the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform. -
NCLB Commission Calls for Further Centralization, Federal Power in Education
Opinion -In February, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Commission--co-chaired by former Gov. Roy Barnes (D) of Georgia and former Gov. -
New Internet Apps Spark Broadband Investment
Opinion -Spurred by growing demand for Internet bandwidth, North American telecommunications companies are projected to spend $70 billion on new infrastructure this year, a 67 percent increase from spending levels in 2003, according to a new report from -
Pennsylvania Implements Severe New Mercury Regulations
Opinion -Pennsylvania's state agency responsible for publishing newly enacted regulations ended a two-month showdown with Gov. Ed Rendell (D) on February 10 by publishing strict mercury reduction rules supported by the governor. -
San Francisco Reconsidering Ban on Phthalates
Opinion -The heads of two San Francisco departments have asked the city's supervisors to reconsider a proposed ordinance that would severely restrict the commercial availability of products containing chemicals known as phthalates and bisphenol A. -
Second Life and the Virtual Property Tax
Opinion -Late last year, a congressional committee began examining the idea of taxing property inside digital gaming worlds such as Second Life. -
Senator Calls for National Low-Carbon Fuel Standards
Opinion -Appearing in Long Beach, California with fellow Republican maverick Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on February 21 called for a mandatory 10 percent reduction in carbon emissions from automobiles. The plan would force U.S. -
South Carolina Considers School Choice Plans
Opinion -More than 4,000 people gathered at the South Carolina State Capitol in Columbia on February 13 to show their support for a unique school choice bill pending in the legislature. -
States Can Fix Long-Term Care Problems
Opinion -How can a state cope with the growing cost of Medicaid long-term care? The Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin tackled that question in a study I conducted for it in December 2006. -
Utah Creates Nation’s First Universal School Voucher Program
Opinion -In early February, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) signed the nation's first law allowing all children to use state-funded scholarships to attend the school of their choice--a move some say might be the beginning of several such state laws nationwide.