Lance T. izumi

Commentary

Education summit, Qatar and school choice

Providence Journal (Providence, RI), December 11, 2009 DOHA, Qatar While there have been global economic and environmental summits for a number of years, mid-November brought the first international education summit, which was organized here. Some may wonder why an event designed to spur education innovation worldwide would be held in ...
Education

Still Not As Good As You Think: 2009 Update on Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice

In 757 California public schools with predominantly non-disadvantaged, mostly middle-class students, 50 percent or more students in at least one grade level performed below proficient on the 2008 state tests. This is an update of Pacific Research Institute’s groundbreaking book Not as Good as You Think: Why the Middle Class ...
Commentary

LAUSD is selling out English Learners to fatten its finances

IT recently emerged that many Los Angeles students placed in classes for English-language learners in the early elementary grades were still taking such classes when they entered high school. That’s not a knock on the students, but a damning indictment of how government at all levels has sold them out ...
California

State must reveal, not conceal, school aptitude

San Francisco Chronicle, November 24, 2009 This year marks the 10th anniversary of California’s Public Schools Accountability Act, an early legislative triumph of then-Gov. Gray Davis. While some good things have come out of the law, the act has failed in its two key missions: to inform parents and the ...
Commentary

Public schools mask poor performance, students suffer

The Examiner (Washington, D.C.), December 18, 2009 Recent revelations indicate that Virginia’s public schools aren’t performing as well as educators claim, a classic example of the smoke screen phenomenon. In states across the country, officials hide the real performance of schools and students from the prying eyes of parents and ...
Commentary

Duncan Wrong Again on School Choice

Freedom Politics, October 6, 2009 As grassroots momentum builds to save the Washington, DC school-choice voucher program from the congressional chopping block, U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan continues to dig in his heels in opposition. His comments betray a fundamental misunderstanding of how the education market works and what parents ...
Commentary

My Life’s Work and Passion

Army-Ed Space, September 17, 2009 Dr. Lance Izumi President, California Community Colleges Board of Governors September, 17th 2009 Education is my life’s work and passion. I’ve spent 20 years in the field – though a lawyer by training, I became fascinated with education issues while serving as a speechwriter for ...
Commentary

Obama’s Teachable Moment Will Teach What?

The Flash Report, September 8, 2009 The biggest problem with President Barack Obama’s speech to students, which will be broadcast and be available to the nation’s schools on September 8th, may not be what he actually says in his speech. Rather, the bigger worry involves the Obama administration’s recommendations to ...
Commentary

Failing the International Test

Freedom Politics, August 31, 2009 American students lag behind most of their international counterparts in math achievement, according to recent analysis from the U.S. Department of Education. In the face of this bad news, however, state and federal policymakers continue to push government-centered “solutions” destined to make matters worse. According ...
Commentary

Competition, Not Control, Will Improve Schools

Freedom Politics, July 30, 2009 U.S. Rep. John P. Kline, Minnesota Republican recently gained the ranking minority slot on the House Education and Labor Committee, a signal that Republicans are re-thinking their support for federal education activism in favor of local control, their old-time religion. The GOP should remember that ...
Commentary

Education summit, Qatar and school choice

Providence Journal (Providence, RI), December 11, 2009 DOHA, Qatar While there have been global economic and environmental summits for a number of years, mid-November brought the first international education summit, which was organized here. Some may wonder why an event designed to spur education innovation worldwide would be held in ...
Education

Still Not As Good As You Think: 2009 Update on Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice

In 757 California public schools with predominantly non-disadvantaged, mostly middle-class students, 50 percent or more students in at least one grade level performed below proficient on the 2008 state tests. This is an update of Pacific Research Institute’s groundbreaking book Not as Good as You Think: Why the Middle Class ...
Commentary

LAUSD is selling out English Learners to fatten its finances

IT recently emerged that many Los Angeles students placed in classes for English-language learners in the early elementary grades were still taking such classes when they entered high school. That’s not a knock on the students, but a damning indictment of how government at all levels has sold them out ...
California

State must reveal, not conceal, school aptitude

San Francisco Chronicle, November 24, 2009 This year marks the 10th anniversary of California’s Public Schools Accountability Act, an early legislative triumph of then-Gov. Gray Davis. While some good things have come out of the law, the act has failed in its two key missions: to inform parents and the ...
Commentary

Public schools mask poor performance, students suffer

The Examiner (Washington, D.C.), December 18, 2009 Recent revelations indicate that Virginia’s public schools aren’t performing as well as educators claim, a classic example of the smoke screen phenomenon. In states across the country, officials hide the real performance of schools and students from the prying eyes of parents and ...
Commentary

Duncan Wrong Again on School Choice

Freedom Politics, October 6, 2009 As grassroots momentum builds to save the Washington, DC school-choice voucher program from the congressional chopping block, U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan continues to dig in his heels in opposition. His comments betray a fundamental misunderstanding of how the education market works and what parents ...
Commentary

My Life’s Work and Passion

Army-Ed Space, September 17, 2009 Dr. Lance Izumi President, California Community Colleges Board of Governors September, 17th 2009 Education is my life’s work and passion. I’ve spent 20 years in the field – though a lawyer by training, I became fascinated with education issues while serving as a speechwriter for ...
Commentary

Obama’s Teachable Moment Will Teach What?

The Flash Report, September 8, 2009 The biggest problem with President Barack Obama’s speech to students, which will be broadcast and be available to the nation’s schools on September 8th, may not be what he actually says in his speech. Rather, the bigger worry involves the Obama administration’s recommendations to ...
Commentary

Failing the International Test

Freedom Politics, August 31, 2009 American students lag behind most of their international counterparts in math achievement, according to recent analysis from the U.S. Department of Education. In the face of this bad news, however, state and federal policymakers continue to push government-centered “solutions” destined to make matters worse. According ...
Commentary

Competition, Not Control, Will Improve Schools

Freedom Politics, July 30, 2009 U.S. Rep. John P. Kline, Minnesota Republican recently gained the ranking minority slot on the House Education and Labor Committee, a signal that Republicans are re-thinking their support for federal education activism in favor of local control, their old-time religion. The GOP should remember that ...
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