Kelley Williams-Bolar, the Akron, Ohio, mother who spent 10 days in jail for enrolling her daughters in a high-performing school district outside her attendance zone, has formed the Ohio Parents Union, according to the Dropout Nation blog. Editor RiShawn Biddle writes: Williams-Bolar is taking her place alongside parents such as Gwen[Read More…]
Parent Empowerment
Five degrees of separation — a changing American anomaly
Editor’s note: Gloria Romero is a former Democratic senator from California and the California director of Democrats for Education Reform. She serves on the board of the American Center for School Choice. Peter H. Hanley is the center’s executive director. Only in education have we empowered strangers and geography rather[Read More…]
The teachable moment escaping Occupy Oakland
The Occupy Oakland protest has gone national as it has continued to grow and generate controversy. From someone who has lived in Oakland previously and has worked there for more than a decade in various roles, the education component of the Occupy Oakland movement is disturbing. Educators appear to be[Read More…]
The persuasive power of graduation rates
Editor’s note: This post comes from Dr. Alan Bonsteel, the president of California Parents for Educational Choice and an associate with the American Center for School Choice, which recently joined an alliance with redefinED. The nation’s staggeringly high dropout rates are perhaps the strongest argument for school choice, and state-level[Read More…]
Parental authority is at the heart of school choice
Editor’s note: This entry comes from John E. Coons, who has championed the cause of school choice for four decades and co-founded the American Center for School Choice. He is Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and with colleague Stephen D. Sugarman is the author of[Read More…]
A new era, and a new partner, for redefinED
Editor’s note: As redefinED enters its second year of publication, it has joined an alliance with the American Center for School Choice. Its first post comes from Fawn Spady, the Center’s chairwoman, and Stephen D. Sugarman, its vice chairman. Today the American Center for School Choice begins its exciting partnership[Read More…]
Customers, not regulations, define quality
W. Edwards Deming, the legendary management guru, taught that quality in education is not goodness but is customer satisfaction within an optimized system. I’ve been thinking about Deming’s work as I’ve been preparing for a panel discussion at the PIE Network’s annual policy summit next week in Seattle on how[Read More…]
Of love and responsibility for the child
The emerging parent union and trigger movements are directing our dialogue toward a question too few of us are asking: Who has the authority over the child? To that, Connecticut Parent’s Union leader Gwen Samuel has added that a parent’s love and responsibility for the child cannot be equaled in[Read More…]