Education
Commentary
Choice and Good Schools—Swedish Style
Say “Sweden” and most Americans think Volvo and IKEA. There is more to the Scandinavian country, however, than just sturdy cars and innovative furniture. Sweden is the world leader when it comes to parental choice in education. Up until 1991 local governments operated almost all Swedish schools. That changed with ...
Commentary
A Ten Year View of Progress In Improving the Transition to College-1998-2008
This is a long blog, but puts together my analysis of our progress and integrates many components of past blogs. Revised version is in the Chronicle of Higher education on line, October 7, 2008 Most of the nation’s eighth graders aspire to college. Unfortunately, however, the majority of them will ...
Commentary
The Fiscal Reality of School Spending
In this installment of Education Watch, Bruce Fuller and Lance T. Izumi discuss what the candidates are saying about their education priorities. Go to Mr. Fuller’s post. Lance T. Izumi, a senior fellow in California studies and the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public ...
Commentary
School-Based Health Centers: One Stop Shopping For Government Dependency
California Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill (SB 564) to fund school-based health centers that will provide primary and associated care to K-12 students. According to the trade association (!) that lobbied for the bill, California currently has 153 school-based health centers, which appear to be mostly funded by local ...
Commentary
The Longest Match
Not all readers of the Contrarian are aware that I have been known to play a game of tennis. I have defeated many of my peers and even, like Billy Jean King, defeated men, some of whom did not take the loss well. Unlike Billy Jean and her celebrity feminist ...
Commentary
A Job to Downsize
SACRAMENTO – David Long, California’s Secretary of Education, resigned on August 10, the fourth such Secretary to resign in the past five years. California should take this opportunity to eliminate this position, which Mr. Long’s brief 18-month tenure confirms to be redundant. “I’d be less than honest if I didn’t ...
Business & Economics
Impact – September 2008
PRI Ideas in Action – September 2008 Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. Click below to view PRI’s recent contributions. Read PDF
California
Bilingual ED Not Dead
How “back-door” bilingual education flouts state law and harms California students Under 227’s provisions, “all children in California public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English.” Specifically, “English learners shall be educated through sheltered English immersion,” with English immersion defined as a process “in which nearly all ...
California
The Bilingual Debate: English Immersion
In this installment of Education Watch, Bruce Fuller and Lance T. Izumi discuss the candidates’ positions on bilingual education. Go to Mr. Fuller’s post. Lance T. Izumi, a senior fellow in California studies and the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, is the ...
Commentary
COD: Students unprepared for workload
Christopher Villalta was not the best student to graduate from La Quinta High School in June, but the soft-spoken 18-year-old earned his diploma and passed the state exit exam required for all students. He started classes at College of the Desert in Palm Desert this month in hopes of becoming ...
Choice and Good Schools—Swedish Style
Say “Sweden” and most Americans think Volvo and IKEA. There is more to the Scandinavian country, however, than just sturdy cars and innovative furniture. Sweden is the world leader when it comes to parental choice in education. Up until 1991 local governments operated almost all Swedish schools. That changed with ...
A Ten Year View of Progress In Improving the Transition to College-1998-2008
This is a long blog, but puts together my analysis of our progress and integrates many components of past blogs. Revised version is in the Chronicle of Higher education on line, October 7, 2008 Most of the nation’s eighth graders aspire to college. Unfortunately, however, the majority of them will ...
The Fiscal Reality of School Spending
In this installment of Education Watch, Bruce Fuller and Lance T. Izumi discuss what the candidates are saying about their education priorities. Go to Mr. Fuller’s post. Lance T. Izumi, a senior fellow in California studies and the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public ...
School-Based Health Centers: One Stop Shopping For Government Dependency
California Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill (SB 564) to fund school-based health centers that will provide primary and associated care to K-12 students. According to the trade association (!) that lobbied for the bill, California currently has 153 school-based health centers, which appear to be mostly funded by local ...
The Longest Match
Not all readers of the Contrarian are aware that I have been known to play a game of tennis. I have defeated many of my peers and even, like Billy Jean King, defeated men, some of whom did not take the loss well. Unlike Billy Jean and her celebrity feminist ...
A Job to Downsize
SACRAMENTO – David Long, California’s Secretary of Education, resigned on August 10, the fourth such Secretary to resign in the past five years. California should take this opportunity to eliminate this position, which Mr. Long’s brief 18-month tenure confirms to be redundant. “I’d be less than honest if I didn’t ...
Impact – September 2008
PRI Ideas in Action – September 2008 Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. Click below to view PRI’s recent contributions. Read PDF
Bilingual ED Not Dead
How “back-door” bilingual education flouts state law and harms California students Under 227’s provisions, “all children in California public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English.” Specifically, “English learners shall be educated through sheltered English immersion,” with English immersion defined as a process “in which nearly all ...
The Bilingual Debate: English Immersion
In this installment of Education Watch, Bruce Fuller and Lance T. Izumi discuss the candidates’ positions on bilingual education. Go to Mr. Fuller’s post. Lance T. Izumi, a senior fellow in California studies and the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, is the ...
COD: Students unprepared for workload
Christopher Villalta was not the best student to graduate from La Quinta High School in June, but the soft-spoken 18-year-old earned his diploma and passed the state exit exam required for all students. He started classes at College of the Desert in Palm Desert this month in hopes of becoming ...
