How much are we spending on education? Actually, far more than we know—because as it turns out, states are hiding some of the teachers’ benefits. In a new paper, Heritage expert Jason Richwine reveals that “Proper accounting would reveal tens of billions of dollars in extra teacher pension costs, equivalent …
After going nearly four years without producing a budget resolution, Senate Democrats today released a plan confirming their mantra about “balanced” approaches has nothing to do with actually balancing the budget. In their view, “balance” is a mix of higher taxes and higher spending, chronic deficits and debt, and a …
Last week’s election brought both good news and bad news for America’s schoolchildren. A variety of states voted on several education issues, including charter schools, collective bargaining, and education spending. First, the Good News Washington State passed a law to allow charter schools. As one of only nine states without …
Calls to spend more on teachers are likely to come up in tonight’s debate. More likely still, we’ll hear accusations that Governor Mitt Romney wants to slash education spending by 20 percent. This figure is a reference to the House of Representatives-approved budget, authored by House Budget Committee chairman Paul …
Last night’s presidential debate included quite a few specifics on education policy from both President Obama and Governor Romney. President Obama’s call for more federal spending on education was no surprise. But his choice to highlight the Administration’s involvement in pushing states to adopt national standards and tests was remarkable. …
On Tuesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan delivered a back-to-school speech of sorts at the National Press Club in Washington. During the question and answer period, an audience member asked Secretary Duncan: “What would be the biggest difference between a Romney and Obama administration on education?” Duncan responded: I think the …
Support for school choice is at an all-time high, according to this year’s PDK/Gallup Poll, released just this morning. Forty-four percent of Americans now favor allowing students to choose a private school to attend at public expense. School choice favorability has jumped 10 percentage points since last year, a sign …
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 …
