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    Obama Budget Ends Funding for D.C. School Choice Program

    Yesterday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the House Appropriations Committee about Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget request for the Department of Education. Congressman Andy Harris (R–MD) took the opportunity to question Duncan about a glaring omission from the budget: funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP). The … More

    Non-Teaching School Staff Costing Taxpayers Money

    The U.S. public education system has seen an enormous increase in staff over the past few decades. But unlike private companies, which base staffing decisions on product demand, the number of school staff positions has increased rapidly without a commensurate increase in the number of students served by the system. … More

    School Choice: Key to Improving Hispanic High School Graduation Rate

    Yesterday marked the beginning of National School Choice Week, a great way to elevate and promote education reform while calling attention to our country’s educational crisis. The problems with American education are especially pronounced among Hispanics: Latino students lag behind white peers in high school graduation rates across the country. … More

    D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program Is Accountable—to Parents

    The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) has helped hundreds of D.C. schoolchildren leave underperforming public schools to attend schools of their parents’ choice. As The Washington Post reported Sunday about the school voucher program: In the District, it’s clear that vouchers have provided many children with an education at well-established … More

    Back to School: How Can We Truly Help Minority Students?

    Last month President Obama signed an executive order to form the new White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. According to the White House, the new initiative, which will work across federal agencies, “aims to ensure that all African American students receive an education that fully prepares them … More

    March Madness Comes to D.C. Schools

    March Madness is in full swing. And former Harvard basketball player and current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has once again “renewed his call for the N.C.A.A. to impose stricter penalties on universities that do not graduate enough of their athletes,” reports The Washington Post. The Secretary noted that while … More

    DC Vouchers Improve Graduation Rates

    A new study released this week by the Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences found that participation in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program “raised a student’s probability of completing high school by 12 percentage points, from 70 percent to 82 percent, based on parent reports.” The news is a … More