Lance T. izumi
Commentary
Where’s superman for the middle class?
The documentary “Waiting for Superman” by Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim, who previously directed Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” was a big hit at the recent Sundance Film Festival. Voted best U.S. documentary by Sundance moviegoers, Guggenheim’s film exposes the immense flaws in America’s public school system and follows the lives ...
Commentary
Learning from Canada’s schools
Washington Times, February 23, 2010 In a speech on Canadian television touting the health care system of our northern neighbor, liberal filmmaker Michael Moore said, “It’s not that you need to become more like Americans, we need to become more Canadian-like.” If America mimicked Canadian education policy, however, Mr. Moore ...
Commentary
Help kids win battle of the bulge
Across the country, children’s physical fitness has been placed on the front burner. First lady Michelle Obama has made childhood obesity her top priority. In Sacramento California, a major conference on physical education research was recently held at the state Capitol. The message is that fit kids not only get ...
Commentary
Obama wants to lower the bar at schools
Orange County Register, March 9, 2010 Despite the recent news that California wasn’t chosen by the Obama administration as a finalist state for the $4 billion Race to the Top education-funding program, with its required adherence to new national standards in English and math, the state will still be forced ...
Education
Will Education Standards Really Help Failing Schools?
During a speech to the National Governors Association, President Obama stated: I want to commend all of you for acting collectively through the National Governors Association to develop common standards that will better position our students for success.and today, Im announcing steps to encourage and support all states to transition ...
Common Core
Why Race to the Middle?
Why Race to the Middle? First-Class State Standards Are Better than Third-Class National Standards, jointly published today by Pioneer Institute in Massachusetts and Pacific Research Institute (PRI) in California, is authored by Zeev Wurman, a Silicon Valley executive active in developing Californias standards and assessments in the mid-1990s, and Dr. ...
California
California Focus: ‘Race to the Top’ won’t get there
Orange County Register, January 26, 2010 As California and other states scramble for shares of Barack Obama’s $4 billion pot of “Race to the Top” education funds, it’s easy to overlook the recent dagger to the heart dealt by the president and the Democratic-controlled Congress to the successful and popular ...
Commentary
Suburban schools not always great
A prominent California legislator from an inner-city district recently told a friend of mine that there were no poor-performing schools in the wealthy suburbs. This is a common perception among legislators, the media and parents, but it stands at odds with the facts. In 2008, there were 528 schools where ...
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 ...
Where’s superman for the middle class?
The documentary “Waiting for Superman” by Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim, who previously directed Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” was a big hit at the recent Sundance Film Festival. Voted best U.S. documentary by Sundance moviegoers, Guggenheim’s film exposes the immense flaws in America’s public school system and follows the lives ...
Learning from Canada’s schools
Washington Times, February 23, 2010 In a speech on Canadian television touting the health care system of our northern neighbor, liberal filmmaker Michael Moore said, “It’s not that you need to become more like Americans, we need to become more Canadian-like.” If America mimicked Canadian education policy, however, Mr. Moore ...
Help kids win battle of the bulge
Across the country, children’s physical fitness has been placed on the front burner. First lady Michelle Obama has made childhood obesity her top priority. In Sacramento California, a major conference on physical education research was recently held at the state Capitol. The message is that fit kids not only get ...
Obama wants to lower the bar at schools
Orange County Register, March 9, 2010 Despite the recent news that California wasn’t chosen by the Obama administration as a finalist state for the $4 billion Race to the Top education-funding program, with its required adherence to new national standards in English and math, the state will still be forced ...
Will Education Standards Really Help Failing Schools?
During a speech to the National Governors Association, President Obama stated: I want to commend all of you for acting collectively through the National Governors Association to develop common standards that will better position our students for success.and today, Im announcing steps to encourage and support all states to transition ...
Why Race to the Middle?
Why Race to the Middle? First-Class State Standards Are Better than Third-Class National Standards, jointly published today by Pioneer Institute in Massachusetts and Pacific Research Institute (PRI) in California, is authored by Zeev Wurman, a Silicon Valley executive active in developing Californias standards and assessments in the mid-1990s, and Dr. ...
California Focus: ‘Race to the Top’ won’t get there
Orange County Register, January 26, 2010 As California and other states scramble for shares of Barack Obama’s $4 billion pot of “Race to the Top” education funds, it’s easy to overlook the recent dagger to the heart dealt by the president and the Democratic-controlled Congress to the successful and popular ...
Suburban schools not always great
A prominent California legislator from an inner-city district recently told a friend of mine that there were no poor-performing schools in the wealthy suburbs. This is a common perception among legislators, the media and parents, but it stands at odds with the facts. In 2008, there were 528 schools where ...
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 ...
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 ...
