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The debate over schools reopening during the pandemic has included a great deal of feedback from educators and parents. We’re not hearing as much from the students themselves. How are they feeling? Are they worried about catching the virus—and what do they think about safety protocol? Do they prefer remote learning or coming back to […]
It’s that time again. We’re recapping each episode in the latest season of our Cool Schools podcast. In this series, EdChoice Director of National Research Mike McShane spotlights some—you guessed it—cool schools across the country. He gets in the weeds, asking school leaders all the burning questions we education geeks care about. For those of […]
As school districts across the country deal with uncertainty about how schools will reopen in the Fall as the COVID-19 lockdown is lifted, many organizations (such as AFT and AEI) have proposed guidelines for education leaders to consider as they pen their plans for reopening. Some of these guidelines include calls for physical distancing, screening […]
School districts spend about $24 billion on food services each year. According to the USDA, approximately 29.8 million students receive school lunch every day through the National School Lunch Program. That’s about 60 percent of public K-12 students in the country. Nationwide, the cost of providing food services on a per-pupil basis, after adjusting for […]
Up to this point, we’ve talked about unbundling what we might call “ancillary” school services like transportation, food, professional development, and remedial education. Now, it is fair to note that thinking of these as ancillary is probably insufficient because if kids can’t get to school, they can’t do anything else. Seems pretty essential. But that […]
“Our public policies fundamentally disrespect them (teachers) and the work they do. No enterprise, public or private, can thrive over time without paying close attention to how it recruits, trains, and retains its very best people.” – Jason Kamras, 55th National Teacher of the Year, and Andrew Rotherham, education analyst and co-founder of Bellwether Education, […]
The greatest superpower the world has ever known laid low by a pandemic, driving divisions that eventually lead to its downfall. Sound worrying? No, we’re not talking about America, we’re talking about Ancient Rome. In the year 165 AD, a plague (probably smallpox) began to ravage the Roman Empire, killing roughly 20 percent of the […]
The idea behind remediation in education is to bring a student who has fallen behind academically back up to speed with their peers by offering extra services. Federal and state funding for remediation programs have increased dramatically over time in real (inflation-adjusted) terms. Sadly, despite this large influx of money, achievement gaps between groups of […]
“ESA” is an acronym used for more than 150 different organizations, technology, policies and other entities. European Space Agency. Endangered Species Act. Emotional Support Animal. Entertainment Software Association. Eastern Surfing Association. Economic and Statistical Analysis. But in the education world, ESA stands for “educations savings account.” In K–12 education, ESAs are state-based programs where parents […]
“This idea of parental choice, that’s great if the parent is well-educated. There are some families that’s perfect for. But to make it available to everyone? No. I think you’re asking for a huge amount of trouble.” Those are the words of a lawmaker in New Hampshire advocating the repeal of an alternative schooling program […]