By Andrew J. Coulson
Back in 1993, when Whitney Houston hit #1 with “I will always love you”, there was something that California-based state schooling advocates didn’t love at all: a school voucher ballot initiative. Much was written on the subject, and in 1994 a booklet was published summarizing the arguments for and against (Voices on Choice, K. L. [...]
Status Quo Stalwarts, Meet Reality
[School Choice Week Blast from the Past, Pt. 2!] is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Andrew J. Coulson
*by 2005… Defenders of the educational status quo have long argued that we don’t need wholesale reform because our state-run school system can be fixed. If we simply raise spending, shrink classes, hire more teachers, or wait for the latest government mandate to work, they’ve promised, our problems will be solved. Reformers have predicted the [...]
‘School Spending Predicted to Climb 50%’* is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Andrew J. Coulson
As I explain in an op-ed in today’s Orange County Register, that’s not a theoretical question. After adjusting for inflation and enrollment growth, CA spent $27 billion more on K-12 public schooling in 2010 than it did when Jerry Brown was first elected governor back in 1974. SAT scores fell over that period (see chart [...]
Would an Extra $27 Billion Improve CA Public School Performance? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Neal McCluskey
On Sunday we marked the tenth birthday of the No Child Left Behind Act by reviewing its decade of futility and explaining why federal education adventuring is basically doomed to failure. (Enjoy some of our extensive coverage here, here, and here.) This week we got yet more evidence that federal policy is always big on promises, itty-bitty [...]
Promises Unfulfilled? What Next, Federal Education Failure? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Caleb O. Brown
Ten years later, it’s clear that the No Child Left Behind law is a failure. Instead of driving better academic performance of K-12 students, NCLB has cost many billions of dollars with no discernible positive impact on student achievement. Worse, the law has laid some of the groundwork necessary for the adoption of national standards, [...]
A Decade of No Child Left Behind is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Andrew J. Coulson
Many, if not most, of the stated goals of the Democratic Party have universal appeal in the United States. Foremost among those would be reducing poverty and ensuring that every child has access to a high-quality education. The problem with the Democratic Party today is that its leadership seems not to understand the kinds of [...]
Back When Democrats Cared Enough to Advocate What Works is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Adam Schaeffer
The battle over school choice in Pennsylvania is instructive in many ways. The most obvious lesson is that education tax credits are easier to pass than are vouchers, ceteris paribus. But why? The results of a recent poll from UnitePA and the Independence Hall Tea Party make the basic answer fairly plain: education tax credits [...]
The Political Dynamics of Vouchers and Credits is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Adam Schaeffer
It’s often difficult to recognize the value of things we already have and easy to take old gifts for granted. For much of this year, an intense and bruising battle has raged over the issue of education vouchers in Pennsylvania. This week, the House once again rejected the voucher proposal that has passed the Senate [...]
PA Senate Should Unwrap the EITC Bill is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Andrew J. Coulson
In a new op-ed, I have the regrettable task of pointing out to my fellow Washingtonians (of the PNW rather than D.C. variety) that we have increased public school spending in the past decade by $1.6 billion and gotten _________ in return. Nothing. Nada. Rien du tout, mes concitoyens. NAEP scores are pretty much flat [...]
And the Other Washington Is Messed Up, Too is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Neal McCluskey
Nobody wants to be the guy — especially the Congress-guy — who says that we need to cut education spending. Nobody wants to be the target of attacks from both the well-intentioned and politically opportunistic that they hate children, only care about “the rich,” or any of the other deviousness that long ago snuck up behind reasoned debate, threw [...]
Reality, Meet Education Policy. Education Policy, Please, Meet Reality! is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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