SaddleBrooke Republican Club » Education

National Charter Schools Week Highlights Satisfied Parents

Evan Walter — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:24:03 +0000

Earlier this month, schools across the country celebrated National Charter Schools Week. This commemoration comes 20 years after Minnesota passed the first state charter school law and City Academy in St. Paul became the first charter school to open its doors. Since then, 40 more states and the District of Columbia have adopted some form of charter school legislation, providing new options to parents who are seeking a choice in their children’s education. Ursula Wright of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) described the basic goal of charters: … More

The Making and Breaking of Education Policy

Andrew J. Coulson — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:49:49 +0000

By Andrew J. Coulson

Matt Ladner does a good job of explaining how his beliefs shape his education policy recommendations. It’s a quality that he shares with Horace Mann, who persuaded the people of ...

The Making and Breaking of Education Policy is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Arizona Gov. Brewer Expands USA’s Most Innovative School Choice Model

Lindsey Burke — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:30:12 +0000

Imagine being a child trapped in a failing school in Arizona. Prior to 2011, being trapped in a failing school in Arizona meant being trapped in a failing school in a state that ranks among the worst performing in the country. But during 2011—the “Year of School Choice”—Arizona led the way in expanding educational options for children outside of the public system. And the Grand Canyon State did so in a major way: by enacting groundbreaking, first-in-the-nation education savings accounts. Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) enable parents of special needs children … More

Latino Voters: Education More Important Than Immigration

Israel Ortega — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:16 +0000

You wouldn’t know it from watching cable television, but education is more important for Hispanic voters than the issue of immigration. A recent poll conducted by Democratic polling firm Beck Research confirms just how important education is for Hispanics across the country. What’s more, the poll found strong support among Hispanics for greater choice and competition in order to improve the educational system. The findings of the poll were presented at the National Press Club at a press conference moderated by Kevin P. Chavous, a senior advisor to the American … More

Alabama Opposes National Education Standards

Rachel Sheffield — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:30:17 +0000

Alabama has joined a growing number of states opposing the Common Core national education standards. Last week, the state senate adopted a resolution to “encourage the State Board of Education to take all steps it deems appropriate, including revocation of the adoption of the initiative’s standards if necessary, to retain complete control over Alabama’s academic standards, curriculum, instruction, and testing system.” This comes at the same time other states are backing away from the standards. Education Week reported earlier this month: Utah has been surfing the waves of common-standards controversy … More

California Knows How to Party… $16 Billlion Too Lavishly

Andrew J. Coulson — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:07:19 +0000

By Andrew J. Coulson

Californians may be forgiven for expectorating coffee over their morning newspapers today, as they learn that their state deficit is not $9 billion, as Governor Brown’s administration had predicted, but rather $16 billion. Oops. Further increasing the breakfast table choking hazard is the Governor’s “solution”: raise taxes. Gov. Brown is pushing a fall ballot initiative [...]

California Knows How to Party… $16 Billlion Too Lavishly is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Wall Street Journal: Conservatives Oppose National Standards

Rachel Sheffield — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:30:44 +0000

Opponents of national standards and tests see the push as furthering “federal intrusion into state education matters,” asserts the Wall Street Journal today. While the standards have been touted as “voluntary” by proponents, the Obama Administration’s heavy promotion of the standards—tying Race to the Top dollars to a state’s adoption of the standards, by suggesting that federal Title I money for low-income schools could be tied to their adoption, and, most recently, by making No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waivers contingent upon a state’s adoption of common standards—makes them anything … More

Did You Read the Federalist Papers in College? Grad School? Law School?

Michael F. Cannon — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:58:42 +0000

By Michael F. Cannon

In the Wall Street Journal, Peter Berkowitz says you probably didn’t. And it shows: It would be difficult to overstate the significance of The Federalist for understanding the principles of American government and the challenges that liberal democracies confront early in the second decade of the 21st century. Yet despite the lip service they pay to [...]

Did You Read the Federalist Papers in College? Grad School? Law School? is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Morning Bell: Washington Needs A Lesson on Student Loans

Mike Brownfield — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:43:10 +0000

You know a politician is looking for applause when he speaks in front of a crowd of college students and says he’s there to help them pay back their student loans. After all, who doesn’t like the prospect of free money? But as the saying (sort of) goes, beware of politicians bearing gifts. That’s especially true this week as President Barack Obama travels the country warning students that their student loan interest rates are set to double and that he has the answer to all their problems. Guess what? He … More

Washington Tries to Play Rich Uncle Sam on Taxpayers’ Backs

Rachel Sheffield — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:33:51 +0000

In 2007, Congress halved the federal student loan rate to 3.4 percent but triggered the rates to increase to 6.8 in 2012. Now, Washington policymakers are debating whether or not to extend the 3.4 percent rate and hand the $6 billion “tuition” bill on to taxpayers. Despite claims by President Obama on his tour of college campuses this week that keeping the loan rate artificially low is critical to keeping college affordable, the numbers suggest otherwise, as Douglas Holz-Eakin, former head of the Congressional Budget Office, points out on National … More