SEARCH
When many people think of school choice, they think of programs that help students who live in struggling areas where the public schools are not always the best choice for a successful education. Loudoun County, Virginia however, is not one of those counties. The county schools are exceptional. The district boasts graduation rates one […]
Stories like Avery’s, the subject of Petula Dvorak’s Washington Post article “In D.C., a 13-year-old piano prodigy is treated as a truant instead of a star student,” elicit passionate, sometimes surprising, responses. Shortly after the release of that article, the D.C. Public Schools chancellor issued a statement saying the article was inaccurate. To clear Dvorak’s name, […]
Charges of “cream-skimming” is a favorite tactic used by some to scare away support for school choice. Skeptics say that should portable student-based funding be implemented, the most-engaged families will rise to the top (the “cream”) and private schools will separate them from the rest. Thus, public schools will be left to serve only the […]
Today’s freakout comes from the comments section of Nicholas Simmons’ recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal entitled, “What I’ve Learned Teaching Charter Students.” Simmons has taught math for two years at New York City’s Success Academy charter school. In his piece, he shares about his students and their outcomes, but the ultimate messages are: […]
When our president and CEO, Robert Enlow, participated in a policy forum with Diane Ravitch last Friday in Indianapolis, the audience of more than 1,000 literally hissed at the topic of school choice. The experience was passionately one-sided—no doubt many public educators comprised the audience. Nevertheless, we learned a great deal from that night. One […]
Today’s Friday Freakout comes from the heated comments section of Diane Ravitch’s blog titled,“How Embarrassing for the Friedman Foundation.” We responded to her blog post here, but something very interesting happened in the comments section between Diane and school choice supporter Greg. See the exchange below, then read our final thoughts. Two of the most […]
Welcome to our new series, where every Friday we highlight online comments from stories we see posted by people impassioned about education. This week’s exchange comes from the comments section of the well-known Politico story, “Vouchers don’t do much for students,” and how some readers reacted to private school teachers. Have a look and tell […]
“Those who can’t do, teach,” goes the common refrain. But not among education reformers, many of whom say changing that attitude is the key to lasting systemic improvement in our schools. And research seems to back them up, as studies show teachers are the most important school-based factor in a student’s performance. So how does someone […]
Adam Emerson of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute makes some reasonable-sounding arguments as to why states should require private school choice students to continue taking state standardized tests. As supporters of school choice, Adam and I are seated at the same table—we just disagree on who sets the menu. Parents care about more than scores. […]