Vicki E. Murray
Commentary
Honor Friedman by allowing students to be ‘free to choose’
Orange County Register – California Focus, January 29, 2009 William E. Simon Foundation, February 11, 2009 The late economist believed in schools competing for students. On this date two years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed Milton Friedman Day in California to honor the late Nobel Prize-winning economist and the governor’s ...
Commentary
The CTA’s Latest Ads: A Dishonest Defense of a Dysfunctional Monopoly
Flash Report (CA), January 23, 2009 Public school funding is plunging to the bottom of the national spending barrel, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest budget “attack” on education is to blame—or so the California Teachers Association claims. In their latest statewide radio ad campaign, the CTA claims California “sank” to ...
Commentary
Kids Need More School Choice
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes shortening the school year by five days to save $1.1 billion and help shrink the state’s $42-billion deficit. State superintendent Jack O’Connell opposes the idea, declaring that a longer school year is needed to prepare students for “the competitive global economy.” International evidence, however, overwhelmingly ...
Commentary
Follow the Foster-Care Leader
SACRAMENTO—With approximately 80,000 children, California has the nation’s largest foster-care population, according to the state’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care. Californians should keep a close watch on Arizona, where the fate of the country’s first K-12 scholarship program for foster-care students is now in the hands of ...
Commentary
New Course for California Schools
SACRAMENTO – With the economy worsening, public schools are bracing for possible budget cuts estimated to exceed $2 billion, and which will force educators to make do with less. Fortunately, educators and policy makers can learn from California’s charter schools, which have been doing more with less for 15 years. ...
Commentary
What California Can Learn From New Jersey’s K-12 Scholarship Plan
California’s finances are a “mess,” as the Wall Street Journal recently observed, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is grappling with an array of cost-saving options, including K-12 education. In these conditions, perhaps the Golden State could learn a few things from the Garden State. New Jersey is one of the few ...
Commentary
What Bill Gates says “Isn’t Supposed to Happen” – Did
Bill Gates, one of the most successful men in history, has weighed in on a problem that will prevent others from achieving success like his. American students now languish near the bottom on international rankings. “This isn’t supposed to happen,” Bill Gates told Oprah Winfrey on an August 7, 2008, ...
Commentary
Expel ‘Promote Now, Pay Later’
Last month, Californians were stunned to learn that around one in four high school students drops out, almost twice as many as the state previously reported. In districts like Grant Joint Union High, more than one in three dropout. Yet even when students stay in school, the question is how ...
Education
Demography Is Not Destiny: Reform Lessons from Florida on Overcoming Achievement Gaps
The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released a report showing that a disadvantaged socio-economic background does not necessarily consign students to poor academic performance. According to Demography Is Not Destiny: Reform Lessons from Florida on Overcoming Achievement Gaps, low-income students in Florida consistently ...
Commentary
Demography Is Not Destiny: Florida Schools California
Today California ranks 48th in basic reading and math skills. A challenging student population is a popular scapegoat, especially Hispanic students.” By this “logic,” Hispanic populations are growing rapidly, Hispanic students under-perform, therefore southwestern states are doomed. But states like Florida prove demography is not destiny. “A decade ago, Florida ...
Honor Friedman by allowing students to be ‘free to choose’
Orange County Register – California Focus, January 29, 2009 William E. Simon Foundation, February 11, 2009 The late economist believed in schools competing for students. On this date two years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed Milton Friedman Day in California to honor the late Nobel Prize-winning economist and the governor’s ...
The CTA’s Latest Ads: A Dishonest Defense of a Dysfunctional Monopoly
Flash Report (CA), January 23, 2009 Public school funding is plunging to the bottom of the national spending barrel, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest budget “attack” on education is to blame—or so the California Teachers Association claims. In their latest statewide radio ad campaign, the CTA claims California “sank” to ...
Kids Need More School Choice
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes shortening the school year by five days to save $1.1 billion and help shrink the state’s $42-billion deficit. State superintendent Jack O’Connell opposes the idea, declaring that a longer school year is needed to prepare students for “the competitive global economy.” International evidence, however, overwhelmingly ...
Follow the Foster-Care Leader
SACRAMENTO—With approximately 80,000 children, California has the nation’s largest foster-care population, according to the state’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care. Californians should keep a close watch on Arizona, where the fate of the country’s first K-12 scholarship program for foster-care students is now in the hands of ...
New Course for California Schools
SACRAMENTO – With the economy worsening, public schools are bracing for possible budget cuts estimated to exceed $2 billion, and which will force educators to make do with less. Fortunately, educators and policy makers can learn from California’s charter schools, which have been doing more with less for 15 years. ...
What California Can Learn From New Jersey’s K-12 Scholarship Plan
California’s finances are a “mess,” as the Wall Street Journal recently observed, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is grappling with an array of cost-saving options, including K-12 education. In these conditions, perhaps the Golden State could learn a few things from the Garden State. New Jersey is one of the few ...
What Bill Gates says “Isn’t Supposed to Happen” – Did
Bill Gates, one of the most successful men in history, has weighed in on a problem that will prevent others from achieving success like his. American students now languish near the bottom on international rankings. “This isn’t supposed to happen,” Bill Gates told Oprah Winfrey on an August 7, 2008, ...
Expel ‘Promote Now, Pay Later’
Last month, Californians were stunned to learn that around one in four high school students drops out, almost twice as many as the state previously reported. In districts like Grant Joint Union High, more than one in three dropout. Yet even when students stay in school, the question is how ...
Demography Is Not Destiny: Reform Lessons from Florida on Overcoming Achievement Gaps
The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released a report showing that a disadvantaged socio-economic background does not necessarily consign students to poor academic performance. According to Demography Is Not Destiny: Reform Lessons from Florida on Overcoming Achievement Gaps, low-income students in Florida consistently ...
Demography Is Not Destiny: Florida Schools California
Today California ranks 48th in basic reading and math skills. A challenging student population is a popular scapegoat, especially Hispanic students.” By this “logic,” Hispanic populations are growing rapidly, Hispanic students under-perform, therefore southwestern states are doomed. But states like Florida prove demography is not destiny. “A decade ago, Florida ...
