SEARCH
Tennessee is close to adopting what would be the 24th school choice voucher program in the nation. Today the Tennessee Senate approved SB196, the Tennessee Choice & Opportunity Scholarship Act, sponsored by Sen. Mark Norris (R), Sen. Brian Kelsey (R), and Sen. Jim Summerville (R). The sections below represent key parameters of this voucher proposal, […]
Is Alaska on the verge of creating another private school choice model? Two days ago, the Alaska House passed an amendment to HB 278 to expand to private schools an existing tax credit for Alaska’s colleges, universities, endowments, and museums. The proposal is unlike any other school choice program in place, as it is not […]
If President Obama wants to “empower boys and men of color,” he really should give school choice another look. If only the idea’s founder, Milton Friedman, were still alive to advise the president—one Nobel laureate to another—as he did previous officeholders of the White House. Heeding Milton’s advice could make the president’s proposal far more […]
“If my son had access to (an education savings account) earlier in his school career, he could have had access to online courses and consistent speech therapy that would have likely helped him reach his educational goals. Let’s face it. Kids learn differently. Maybe a different approach to education could help other children who learn […]
Today’s freakout comes from the comments section of Nicholas Simmons’ recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal entitled, “What I’ve Learned Teaching Charter Students.” Simmons has taught math for two years at New York City’s Success Academy charter school. In his piece, he shares about his students and their outcomes, but the ultimate messages are: […]
Alabama – Stephanie Linn @StephanieJLinn The Alabama House passed HB 558 that would amend the Alabama Accountability Act. The bill heads to the Senate for consideration. The bill would make the following changes: Define individual donors as shareholders or partners of S corporations or Subchapter K entities, and eliminate the $7,500 cap on all individual contributions. […]
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’” Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!’” “But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument,’” Alice objected. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means […]
This is Part I in Gerard Robinson’s series on “Vouchers and the Masters of Invention” As a slogan, freedom of choice has a home in movements ranging from association to abortion. In between those ideological ends are policy proposals focused on housing, food, and education that also rely on choice. In each case, taxpayer dollars […]
This is Part II in Gerard Robinson’s series on “Vouchers and the Masters of Invention” Let’s begin with the basics. A voucher is not a house or a housing project. A voucher is neither a food product nor a school. A voucher is a legal tender of payment. All three voucher programs described in Part […]
This week’s post comes from Monday’s POLITICO story titled “Special report: Taxpayers fund creationism in the classroom.” The piece was not lacking in reader feedback: more than 14,000 comments so far. One such comment—which does not appear to be in response to any other posts—reads as follows: 66gardeners promoted the very poor judgment among Pasadena […]