The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last week that even with improvements in the economy, food stamp participation rates have reached all-time highs. Since 2008, enrollment has increased by 70 percent, reaching a record 47.8 million this past December. Funding for the food stamp program—or, as it’s now called the …
School choice is making headlines in multiple states this spring. Several have approved or are considering proposals to expand educational opportunity for families. Texas is going bold by introducing multiple school choice proposals. Heritage’s Lindsey Burke explains that these include: an elimination of the cap on charter schools (only 215 …
Last summer, the Obama Administration gutted the successful 1996 welfare reform law by offering to waive its work requirements. Now the debate is back, as several Members of Congress are trying to restore the reforms that helped so many out of poverty. The work requirements were the heart and soul …
President Obama recently unveiled his plan for expanding early education, which includes expanding federal funding for public preschool and boosting Head Start funding. According to the President, government-funded preschool is the way for students to achieve academic success. Sadly, Obama’s claims are founded on weak evidence. Government-funded preschool programs show …
In a surprising and historic move, the Alabama state legislature passed the state’s first private-school choice plan Thursday evening. Governor Robert Bentley (R), who is expected to sign the bill next week, called it “the most significant piece of legislation that’s been passed in this Legislature in years,” and Senate …
States are reconsidering their support for the Common Core standards. In recent weeks, legislators in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, and South Dakota have attempted to pedal back their state’s involvement with the standards. Noted The Washington Post: “[T]he [Common Core] standards are meeting with growing resistance for reasons including questions about …
Members of Congress are taking action to confront last summer’s move by the Obama Administration to gut the 1996 welfare reform law of its work requirements. The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing Thursday to investigate the Administration’s action to waive the enormously successful and …
“Marriage is the unsung antipoverty program,” says Sheila Weber, Executive Director of National Marriage Week. In the video above, citing Heritage Foundation research, Weber explains the connection between marriage and poverty: Marriage decreases the likelihood of child poverty by 82 percent. Weber also points out what numerous studies confirm: “Children …
