We’re just eight months in, but 2011 has already proven to be the most exciting year for school choice to date. Thirteen states and D.C. enacted or expanded school choice options for families, leading The Wall Street Journal to proclaim 2011 “The Year of School Choice.” But just what is school choice? Heritage’s new education video tells the story of two towns: Choiceville and Districtville. Choiceville has a variety of supermarkets, each specializing in something different. Supermarkets compete to attract customers, increasing quality for everyone. But it’s a different story …
Confused about the federal role in education? A simple analogy will help. This new Heritage video tells the story of Steve, the president of the local homeowners’ association. Steve decides to centralize the yard care decisions for the entire neighborhood to achieve uniformity. Unfortunately, not all lawns are the same. Soon, the landscaping companies are answering directly to Steve, not the homeowners. Any plan Steve devises becomes the rule, and homeowners are forced to try to keep up with endless new regulations. Sound familiar? America’s public school system is facing …
What if a sports team continued to lose more and more games, even as it continued to spend more money on brand new uniforms, state-of-the-art facilities, and more coaches? You would probably begin to wonder whether all the new spending was doing any good. Unfortunately, a story like this plays out in America’s public school system. For decades, the federal government has poured more taxpayer dollars into schools, even as the basics like reading and math are neglected. In this new video, The Heritage Foundation explains how more spending on …
