Education

Commentary

‘Superman’ has a backstory you won’t see on the big screen

‘Waiting for ‘Superman,’” touted by Oprah, Bill Gates and other celebrities, is now playing in California theatres. Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim directed the film, best documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Several back stories, and the star, will not be apparent on the big screen. “Waiting for ‘Superman’” follows ...
Commentary

Prop. 209 back in spotlight

The November elections have been dominating the news, obscuring a story of great interest to those who find little merit in most government policies on women’s or gender issues. Sometimes, however, a government measure can have a positive effect. That even holds true in, of all places, California. Officials in ...
Commentary

Is Arizona Waiting for “Superman”?

Waiting for Superman follows several students seeking to escape underperforming inner city schools in New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. The filmmakers weave heartbreaking personal drama into an overall presentation of the flaws of the nation’s education system. Together, these themes are incredibly powerful and mutually reinforcing. To their credit, ...
Education

New Study Finds GI Junior Scholarships Would Expand Education Options for CA Military Children

New policy brief finds that providing military families with school vouchers to allow parents to choose schools that best fit their children’s needs would raise educational achievement and save the state money. Sacramento— Today, the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based public policy think tank, released a policy brief on ...
Commentary

GI Junior Scholarships Would Expand Education Options for California Military Children

GI Junior Scholarships Would Expand Education Options for California Military Children By Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D., associate director of Education Studies Military personnel are in the service of their country more so than any federal bureaucrat or state regulator. It is entirely reasonable that military parents, who are not allowed ...
Commentary

School Finance Center database shows high-achieving school districts can withstand budget constraints

School Finance Center database shows high-achieving school districts can withstand budget constraints —Many school districts deliver a greater ROI in student achievement for the funding they receive— Sacramento—Today the Pacific Research Institute and Educational Results Partnership launched the updated California School Finance Center database, online at www.schoolfinancecenter.org. This online resource ...
Education

Back-to-School Lessons from LAUSD

Vol. 16 No. 32, September 8, 2010 Back-to-School Lessons from LAUSD By K. Lloyd Billingsley, editorial director After 15 years of legal and environmental battles, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) recently opened the Robert F. Kennedy High School, which cost $578 million—more than half a billion dollars—and now ...
Commentary

Helping Our Troops and Their Families

Children with special needs whose parents are in the Armed Services may soon be eligible for academic opportunity scholarships. Unfortunately, the National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE) is mounting a militant campaign against opportunities for those children. The Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2011 (S. ...
Commentary

Assessing a Teacher’s Value

What are the benefits and pitfalls of using student test scores to measure a teacher’s effectiveness? Help the Parents Lance T. Izumi is the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute. The “value-added” assessments are useful in analyzing teacher performance, but they can be made better. The ...
Commentary

That sucking sound is LAUSD doing business as usual

WHEN the Los Angeles Unified School District unveiled its opulent $578 million Robert F. Kennedy High School, the most expensive government-run K-12 school in this nation’s history, it was not just an isolated PR disaster. Rather, it was only the latest evidence that the floundering district is like a vacuum ...
Commentary

‘Superman’ has a backstory you won’t see on the big screen

‘Waiting for ‘Superman,’” touted by Oprah, Bill Gates and other celebrities, is now playing in California theatres. Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim directed the film, best documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Several back stories, and the star, will not be apparent on the big screen. “Waiting for ‘Superman’” follows ...
Commentary

Prop. 209 back in spotlight

The November elections have been dominating the news, obscuring a story of great interest to those who find little merit in most government policies on women’s or gender issues. Sometimes, however, a government measure can have a positive effect. That even holds true in, of all places, California. Officials in ...
Commentary

Is Arizona Waiting for “Superman”?

Waiting for Superman follows several students seeking to escape underperforming inner city schools in New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. The filmmakers weave heartbreaking personal drama into an overall presentation of the flaws of the nation’s education system. Together, these themes are incredibly powerful and mutually reinforcing. To their credit, ...
Education

New Study Finds GI Junior Scholarships Would Expand Education Options for CA Military Children

New policy brief finds that providing military families with school vouchers to allow parents to choose schools that best fit their children’s needs would raise educational achievement and save the state money. Sacramento— Today, the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based public policy think tank, released a policy brief on ...
Commentary

GI Junior Scholarships Would Expand Education Options for California Military Children

GI Junior Scholarships Would Expand Education Options for California Military Children By Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D., associate director of Education Studies Military personnel are in the service of their country more so than any federal bureaucrat or state regulator. It is entirely reasonable that military parents, who are not allowed ...
Commentary

School Finance Center database shows high-achieving school districts can withstand budget constraints

School Finance Center database shows high-achieving school districts can withstand budget constraints —Many school districts deliver a greater ROI in student achievement for the funding they receive— Sacramento—Today the Pacific Research Institute and Educational Results Partnership launched the updated California School Finance Center database, online at www.schoolfinancecenter.org. This online resource ...
Education

Back-to-School Lessons from LAUSD

Vol. 16 No. 32, September 8, 2010 Back-to-School Lessons from LAUSD By K. Lloyd Billingsley, editorial director After 15 years of legal and environmental battles, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) recently opened the Robert F. Kennedy High School, which cost $578 million—more than half a billion dollars—and now ...
Commentary

Helping Our Troops and Their Families

Children with special needs whose parents are in the Armed Services may soon be eligible for academic opportunity scholarships. Unfortunately, the National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE) is mounting a militant campaign against opportunities for those children. The Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2011 (S. ...
Commentary

Assessing a Teacher’s Value

What are the benefits and pitfalls of using student test scores to measure a teacher’s effectiveness? Help the Parents Lance T. Izumi is the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute. The “value-added” assessments are useful in analyzing teacher performance, but they can be made better. The ...
Commentary

That sucking sound is LAUSD doing business as usual

WHEN the Los Angeles Unified School District unveiled its opulent $578 million Robert F. Kennedy High School, the most expensive government-run K-12 school in this nation’s history, it was not just an isolated PR disaster. Rather, it was only the latest evidence that the floundering district is like a vacuum ...
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