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 …
Last month, the Pennsylvania State Senate passed a landmark bill to allow children in the bottom 5 percent of schools to receive scholarships to attend a private school of their choice. The bill also lifts the cap on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program—which provides tax credits to corporations that donate to scholarship organizations—$25 million in 2012 and another $25 million in 2014. Robert Enlow, president and CEO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, said the proposal brings “Pennsylvania closer to Milton Friedman’s vision of true school choice for …
A new poll shows that in one of the most liberal of states–California–charter schools are impressing voters by a wide margin, particularly among Latino parents. The Los Angeles Times reports: Among those surveyed in the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll, 52% had a favorable opinion about charters; only 12% had an unfavorable impression. Asked whether charter schools or traditional schools provided a better education, 48% gave superior marks to charters; 24% considered traditional schools more effective. The charter model appealed to Latino parents in particular. Overall, 52% of parents — those who …
Tomorrow, the highly anticipated math and reading scores of our nation’s 4th and 8th graders will be released as part of the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Often referred to as the nation’s “report card,” the NAEP provides a snapshot of the educational performance of students throughout the country, which can be used to track progress over time and inform education policy. But don’t hold your breath for any drastic increase in student achievement. Sadly, tomorrow’s results, like the results of the past 40 years, could end up …
One of the main focuses of the Senate this week has been the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known in this iteration as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Heritage has been at the forefront of the opposition to the massive federal overreach in centralizing Education. Click here to Join us right now for our “Lunch with Heritage” chat. We are joined by Senior Education Policy Analyst Lindsey Burke and she takes your questions about what is in the latest re-authorization, and how Obama wants to re-authorize it. Lunch …
The death of Steve Jobs last week captured the attention of people not only around the nation but around the globe. While Jobs and his products are known worldwide, less well known, as Lori Drummer of the Independent Women’s Forum writes, was this innovator’s “passion” for educational opportunity via school choice. As Jobs noted in a 1995 interview with the Smithsonian Institution: “Equal opportunity to me more than anything means a great education.” He added that “the customers of education” are ultimately “the parents” and that “what we need to …
Senator Marco Rubio (R–FL) urged Education Secretary Arne Duncan to remember the constitutional limitations placed on the executive branch in a letter to the Department of Education Tuesday. What prompted Rubio to express his concerns is the Obama Administration’s intention to, on the one hand, grant waivers to states for the onerous provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) while, on the other hand, tying them to even more onerous centralized policy: Our principal concern is that the Executive branch does not possess the authority to force states into compliance …
“No Child Left Behind [NCLB] and the Race to the Top [RTTT] grants are likely to be the high water mark of federal involvement in schools,” says Jay Mathews in a Washington Post editorial this week on why the Obama Administration’s further overreach into national standards will fail. His argument? Washington simply can’t afford to get any more deeply involved in local schools. On that point, Mathews is absolutely right. We also hope he’s right about the collapse of the national standards project, but it will take some effort to …
In a momentous move in March of this year, a Colorado school board voted to implement its first private school choice program. The program allows up to 500 children in Douglas County to attend a private school of their choice. Now, hundreds of students are being blocked from receiving these scholarships due to the decision of a state district judge from Denver to halt the voucher program, claiming that it violates the state constitution. The county school board is planning to appeal the decision. John Carson, president of the Douglas …
It’s back to school time. And this year, students across the nation have more educational opportunity than in any previous year. 2011 has been named “The Year of School Choice,” and for good reason. Forty-two states introduced over 150 pieces of school choice legislation, and 12 states and the District of Columbia enacted plans to broaden school choice. As of this year, 18 states plus D.C. offer some form of private school choice: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, …
