Education
Commentary
Washington-centric Education “Reforms” Destined for Failure
Last week the Obama administration released changes to No Child Left Behind, now known as Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The New York Times observed that, “This ambitious agenda presents striking challenges of its own, both political and in terms of implementation.” Indeed, the proposed alterations have elicited divided ...
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
0ld-school ideas of Jaime Escalante stand and deliver as much as always
CLASS may soon be over for Jaime Escalante, the math teacher celebrated in the 1988 movie “Stand and Deliver.” According to news reports, Escalante, 79, is in poor health and unable to walk. But after all these years, his accomplishments in Los Angeles, and his teaching philosophy, can still stand ...
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 ...
Education
The Hypocrisy and Revisionist History of D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton
“The political maneuvering of District congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton can be breathtaking,” writes the Washington Examiner’s Jonetta Rose Barras. Norton has requested $5 million for hundreds of D.C. school children whose Opportunity Scholarships were revoked by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan-the fruit of Norton’s poisonous tree. Yet she told ...
Education
Rational Education Policy Working in Cleveland
No wonder almost 40,000 middle-class students have fled the district; while more than 25,000 urban students are attending charter schools and using private-school scholarships. But there are solutions to fix the schools. Among Ms. Snell’s Top 10 recommendations are to: Make every failing school a charter school; Base funding on ...
Commentary
Lessons from California’s Race to the Top Loss
SACRAMENTO California has failed to land a federal Race to the Top grant but the grant process proved enlightening on several key fronts. It is possible, after all, to pass legislation the California Teachers Association (CTA), the states biggest political spender, doesnt like. To compete for the Race to ...
Commentary
Race to the Top Finalists Announced, Some Reforms Ignored
School Reform News, March 15, 2010 The nation’s largest state was not among the 15 states and the District of Columbia chosen to advance in the competition for a share of Race to the Top funds, the Obama administration’s $4.35 billion pot of education-stimulus gold. School reformers in California said ...
Commentary
Federal Money Should Empower Parents, Not Failing Public Schools
Last week, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President Obama laid out plans for improving Americas dropout rate. Some of the ideas are worthy of praise, but a pattern is becoming increasingly predictable. The president promised federal money in exchange for reform. Specifically, Obama promised $900 million ...
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 ...
Washington-centric Education “Reforms” Destined for Failure
Last week the Obama administration released changes to No Child Left Behind, now known as Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The New York Times observed that, “This ambitious agenda presents striking challenges of its own, both political and in terms of implementation.” Indeed, the proposed alterations have elicited divided ...
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 ...
0ld-school ideas of Jaime Escalante stand and deliver as much as always
CLASS may soon be over for Jaime Escalante, the math teacher celebrated in the 1988 movie “Stand and Deliver.” According to news reports, Escalante, 79, is in poor health and unable to walk. But after all these years, his accomplishments in Los Angeles, and his teaching philosophy, can still stand ...
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 ...
The Hypocrisy and Revisionist History of D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton
“The political maneuvering of District congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton can be breathtaking,” writes the Washington Examiner’s Jonetta Rose Barras. Norton has requested $5 million for hundreds of D.C. school children whose Opportunity Scholarships were revoked by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan-the fruit of Norton’s poisonous tree. Yet she told ...
Rational Education Policy Working in Cleveland
No wonder almost 40,000 middle-class students have fled the district; while more than 25,000 urban students are attending charter schools and using private-school scholarships. But there are solutions to fix the schools. Among Ms. Snell’s Top 10 recommendations are to: Make every failing school a charter school; Base funding on ...
Lessons from California’s Race to the Top Loss
SACRAMENTO California has failed to land a federal Race to the Top grant but the grant process proved enlightening on several key fronts. It is possible, after all, to pass legislation the California Teachers Association (CTA), the states biggest political spender, doesnt like. To compete for the Race to ...
Race to the Top Finalists Announced, Some Reforms Ignored
School Reform News, March 15, 2010 The nation’s largest state was not among the 15 states and the District of Columbia chosen to advance in the competition for a share of Race to the Top funds, the Obama administration’s $4.35 billion pot of education-stimulus gold. School reformers in California said ...
Federal Money Should Empower Parents, Not Failing Public Schools
Last week, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President Obama laid out plans for improving Americas dropout rate. Some of the ideas are worthy of praise, but a pattern is becoming increasingly predictable. The president promised federal money in exchange for reform. Specifically, Obama promised $900 million ...
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 ...
