It may have drawn bigger headlines if President Obama had supported the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship, but his continued opposition to the program is all the more disappointing for its tenor. The White House’s most recent assertion that the program has proven ineffective reads more like a screed from the National Education Association, not from a president[Read More…]
Parental Choice
The Washington Post on Obama’s opposition to D.C. vouchers
The Post editorial board tonight challenges the White House’s assertion that the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship has failed to demonstrate progress in raising the achievement of the low-income students who benefit. “The White House has a right to its own opinion, as wrongheaded as we believe it to be,” it begins. “It doesn’t[Read More…]
Avoiding a rush to judgment in Milwaukee
UPDATE: A team of university researchers is releasing data showing more comprehensive results on the performance of students in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program than the state of Wisconsin has shown, according to a story in today’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The team, which includes professors John F. Witte of the University of Wisconsin[Read More…]
What the common school was — and what it has become
Jay Bookman at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is among the more faithful opponents to school vouchers and has frequently criticized a Georgia measure, as he did today, as representative of “another step in an incremental, largely undeclared assault on public education …” Leaving aside Bookman’s hyperbole, his current argument is a useful entry[Read More…]
NOLA parents want to move away from the failing-schools model of choice
A group of parents and school choice advocates in New Orleans are holding a news conference this afternoon to urge lawmakers to expand a private school voucher program for low-income students. The expansion would recognize that some disadvantaged children at better-performing schools may also benefit from private learning options they[Read More…]
The redefinED podcast — An interview with Ben Austin of the Parent Revolution
“We’re living in a revolutionary moment,” says Ben Austin, executive director of the Parent Revolution, as we begin our interview for redefinED’s inaugural podcast. And the moment to which he refers has been marked by California’s “parent trigger,” a law that has upended the status quo at one Compton school[Read More…]
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Indy Star: Dems should awaken to their history, and their national leadership, on education reform
Indianapolis Star associate editor Russ Pulliam continues to highlight the Democratic heritage to voucher-like education reforms and charter school initiatives, especially so since Indiana Democrats have boycotted their Capitol to put pressure on Republicans to water down a voucher proposal. Last month, Pulliam focused on the story of one former Democratic candidate for[Read More…]
In Georgia, one voucher measure is tabled, another is voted up
There’s been some mixed results this week with Georgia legislation that would enhance the state’s private learning options. The Georgia Senate yesterday tabled SB 87, which would have expanded Georgia’s special needs scholarship to children of military families and to children in foster care. Yet the House, on the same day, passed HB 325 by a[Read More…]