According to Dr. Michael Walker Jones of the Louisiana Association of Educators, low-income parents “don’t have a clue” when it comes to making decisions about their children’s education. Last week, in an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune, he stated: “If I’m a parent in poverty, I have no clue because I’m trying to struggle and live day-to-day.” Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) was quick to respond to Jones, who leads the state’s largest education union: The union leader’s comments are just the type of top-down, arrogant, elitist mentality that …
With a growing number of school choice programs comes a growing body of research on how educational opportunity benefits students. These benefits manifest themselves in outcomes such as higher graduation rates, increased academic achievement, and higher levels of parent satisfaction with their children’s schools. Students in school choice programs graduate at significantly higher rates than their public school peers. A 2010 gold-standard evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP)—a voucher program for low-income children in Washington, D.C.—revealed that over 90 percent of DCOSP students graduated from high school, compared to just …
When the first National School Choice Week began just one year ago, the prospect of educational opportunity for hundreds of D.C. school children hung precariously in the balance. In January 2011, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship (DCOSP)—a voucher program for low-income schoolchildren in the nation’s capital—had for two years been at risk of being completely phased out by liberals in Congress, right under the nose of the complacent Obama Administration. And for two years proponents of school choice had been fighting to ensure that D.C. children would have greater hope for …
As the new year unfolds, governors are beginning to outline their education plans for 2012. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R) called for changes to teacher tenure in his State of the Commonwealth speech: Our teachers are well educated and motivated professionals who deserve to be treated as such. Just like workers in most other jobs get reviewed every year, and are therefore able to be more accurately promoted and rewarded for their success, so too should our teachers. Last year, Virginia introduced a pilot merit pay program for teachers. This …
How does marriage fare as the nation heads into the new year? Unfortunately, the most recent government data indicate that U.S. marriage rates are at an all-time low. Today, a little more than half of all Americans are currently married, compared to more than 70 percent five decades ago. Additionally, the age at first marriage among both men and women is at historic highs. Related to these trends, the unwed birthrate is also at a historic high (more than 40 percent). On the bright side, however, the research indicates that …
Last week, the Associated Press reported that, based on the Census Bureau’s new poverty measure, half of America is now poor or low-income. Forget about Occupy Wall Street’s ballyhooed 99 percent of Americans who aren’t “rich.” Now we’re supposed to believe 50 percent of us are poor or close to it. Of course, that all depends how you define “poverty” or “near poverty.” And by the definition of this new measure, quietly ushered in by the Obama Administration, “low-income” in some areas of the country can now mean up to …
The Washington Examiner recently reported that the two states bordering the nation’s capital are two of the five worst states for food stamp fraud. The above table shows the inverse relationship between the number of food stamp recipients and the percentage of cases investigated for fraud in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. While the number of food stamp recipients has significantly increased (now up to a total of 45 million Americans) the percentage of cases investigated for fraud has not increased or even remained constant. The result is …
The “super committee’s” failure to reach an agreement to reduce federal spending is supposed to trigger automatic spending cuts—some of which could decrease funding for the Department of Education beginning in 2013. This has the education unions and Secretary Arne Duncan up in arms. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, stated that this decrease in funding represents “drastic across-the-board cuts to vital programs” resulting in “massive reductions to education programs.” “Massive”? Let’s put this in perspective. The total cuts, if enacted—which some suggest is doubtful—would represent a …
A most remarkable “year of school choice” may be edging to a close, but the momentum for school choice is far from over. On the heels of Indiana’s success, states like Tennessee are looking to introduce educational options for their students in the upcoming year. The discussion surrounding school choice isn’t a new one for the state, but as the Education Action Group (EAG) reports, the success of Indiana in passing the most expansive school choice program in the nation—one which has attracted nearly 4,000 students in its first year …
Children in Indiana born to single parents are more than six times more likely to live in poverty than children born to married parents. In fact, nearly three-quarters of all poor families in the state are headed by single parents. According to a new Heritage report, the breakdown of marriage in Indiana is a major cause of the state’s poverty. Unfortunately, as the data reveal, the rate of unwed births in the Hoosier State has grown dramatically over the last five decades, from just over 5 percent in 1960 to …
