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Last night in a highly contested election, the four school choice candidates running to return to or join Colorado’s Douglas County School Board won. Although some headlines have focused on Jeb Bush’s, a Koch-funded nonprofit’s, and the teachers unions’ involvement in the race, it was the late Milton Friedman that prompted board members to dramatically reform […]
Rhode Island is a blue state when it comes to legislative politics. A very, very blue state. In presidential elections since 1928, Rhode Island has voted Republican just four times (1952, 1956, 1972, and 1984). And to further illustrate this point, the following are the party breakdowns in each assembly chamber for 2013: That is […]
How often is “a great education” recognized at Thanksgiving feasts? Probably not very often. But for those afforded school choice, the educational opportunities now on the table are leaving them stuffed full of thanks. From Lynn and Tim McMurray in Arizona This Thanksgiving our family has so much to be thankful for, especially the Empowerment […]
On any given Saturday evening in my suburban neighborhood a ritual takes place. Kids of all shapes and sizes pour into interconnecting back yards and start playing. Following closely behind, after the grass is mowed and the youth league games played, the adults pour out of the house with their glasses of wine or bottles […]
Much as the Gulf Stream sets the course for trans-Atlantic cargo ships, there are many unseen socioeconomic trends that push and pull on the movement of society and public policy. In the realm of K–12 education, there are two major fiscal trends that are silently pulling the United States toward a system that would allow […]
How do the nation’s first vouchers for students with special needs match up against the country’s first education savings accounts (ESAs) for students with special needs? As Led Zeppelin once sang, “Then as it was, then again it will be….” It’s been 10 years since researchers Jay P. Greene and Greg Forster (a Senior Fellow […]
In reaction to our survey of Iowa voters, the University of Iowa’s independent student newspaper, The Daily Iowan, cast out some enticing bait in Jon Overton’s editorial “School choice isn’t effective”: “School choice is an insidiously popular option for trying to reform the education system. People like to think they’re in control, especially parents. And […]
Arizona’s one-of-a-kind education savings accounts (ESAs), called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, are bank accounts eligible parents can use only for their children’s education expenses, current or future. The Arizona Department of Education issues parents debit cards loaded with funds, which amount to about 90 percent of what the state has already reserved for that child in […]
They do things differently in Iowa. And I mean they do so in a refreshing way. As I have talked with folks there, it is easy to pick up a “we are in this together” attitude when it comes to public education. And the idea of “public education” does not have to be defined by […]
Let’s get hypothetical: What could happen if every student in Arizona had access to education savings accounts (ESAs), called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, and used the unspent funds to save for college? For those not yet familiar with the program, ESAs offer parents government-authorized savings accounts loaded with 90 percent of their child’s state education dollars. Whether […]