School Choice

Commentary

Suburban Schools Not Actually That Good, Studies Find

The schools middle-class families send their kids to aren’t as good as parents think, say two recently released studies from different sources. A national study released in May found that U.S. students whose parents have college degrees perform worse than peers from comparable families in other countries. In the United ...
Commentary

Obama the populist?

From his State of the Union to follow-up speeches in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Tennessee, Barack Obama is playing the populist on issues ranging from the minimum wage to unemployment benefits to retirement savings. He sides rhetorically with the little guy, victimized by big forces and big institutions. Yet, when ...
Commentary

Missed opportunity for school choice

On the surface it looked innocuous: a State Senate committee recently approved Senate Bill 693, which gives a tax credit to new teachers for classroom expenses they incur. The behind-the-scenes story, however, is much sadder: in exchange for this mild reform, the bill’s author, Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, had ...
Commentary

A New Strategy to Improve Math and Science Learning

Governor Jerry Brown’s new budget proposes an additional $10 billion for K-14 education, but he also wants public school districts to increase and improve services for low-income students, foster youth, and other at-risk children. While commendable, there is bill in the State Assembly that seeks to address the needs of ...
Commentary

Ronald Reagan’s Education Legacy

SACRAMENTO, CA – While Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy changed the face of the world, it shouldn’t be forgotten that his leadership also dramatically changed the face of issues at home. Top among those was education. In 1983, the Reagan administration released the groundbreaking report “A Nation at Risk.” Using a ...
California

Educational Impact of the Khan Academy and Provides Recommendations for Greater Adoption in California

The Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released a new report today highlighting the successes of the Khan Academy, including improved learning and significant cost savings. The report also discusses the bureaucratic obstacles that hold back its expansion in California and makes recommendations for removing ...
Commentary

Republican Rx: Parental Choice in Education

In the aftermath of Mitt Romney’s defeat, Republicans are scrambling to find a winning electoral formula. While the punditry class advises the GOP to cave in on immigration and social issues, the bigger and better opportunity for Republicans to increase their voter base and divide the Democrats would be to ...
California

Win some, lose some on bill signing

We take selective note of bills signed or vetoed the past week by Gov. Jerry Brown. Commendably, the governor vetoed Senate Bill 1235, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. It would have required the state superintendent of public instruction and the Department of Education to “provide training and ...
California

National School Choice Week: The Middle Class Needs Choice, too

It’s National School Choice Week and governors and legislators in a number of states have proposed increasing schooling options for low-income students attending low-performing schools. While commendable, it’s important to point out that student under-achievement isn’t limited to low-income areas, but is also widespread in middle-class and more affluent suburbs ...
California

California Schools Behind the Curve

Gov. Jerry Brown said in his State of the State address that the so-called “declinists,” those who worry about California’s place in the nation and the world, are wrong. He pointed to areas where the state is supposedly ahead of rivals, like Texas, Massachusetts and New York. However, if one ...
Commentary

Suburban Schools Not Actually That Good, Studies Find

The schools middle-class families send their kids to aren’t as good as parents think, say two recently released studies from different sources. A national study released in May found that U.S. students whose parents have college degrees perform worse than peers from comparable families in other countries. In the United ...
Commentary

Obama the populist?

From his State of the Union to follow-up speeches in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Tennessee, Barack Obama is playing the populist on issues ranging from the minimum wage to unemployment benefits to retirement savings. He sides rhetorically with the little guy, victimized by big forces and big institutions. Yet, when ...
Commentary

Missed opportunity for school choice

On the surface it looked innocuous: a State Senate committee recently approved Senate Bill 693, which gives a tax credit to new teachers for classroom expenses they incur. The behind-the-scenes story, however, is much sadder: in exchange for this mild reform, the bill’s author, Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, had ...
Commentary

A New Strategy to Improve Math and Science Learning

Governor Jerry Brown’s new budget proposes an additional $10 billion for K-14 education, but he also wants public school districts to increase and improve services for low-income students, foster youth, and other at-risk children. While commendable, there is bill in the State Assembly that seeks to address the needs of ...
Commentary

Ronald Reagan’s Education Legacy

SACRAMENTO, CA – While Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy changed the face of the world, it shouldn’t be forgotten that his leadership also dramatically changed the face of issues at home. Top among those was education. In 1983, the Reagan administration released the groundbreaking report “A Nation at Risk.” Using a ...
California

Educational Impact of the Khan Academy and Provides Recommendations for Greater Adoption in California

The Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released a new report today highlighting the successes of the Khan Academy, including improved learning and significant cost savings. The report also discusses the bureaucratic obstacles that hold back its expansion in California and makes recommendations for removing ...
Commentary

Republican Rx: Parental Choice in Education

In the aftermath of Mitt Romney’s defeat, Republicans are scrambling to find a winning electoral formula. While the punditry class advises the GOP to cave in on immigration and social issues, the bigger and better opportunity for Republicans to increase their voter base and divide the Democrats would be to ...
California

Win some, lose some on bill signing

We take selective note of bills signed or vetoed the past week by Gov. Jerry Brown. Commendably, the governor vetoed Senate Bill 1235, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. It would have required the state superintendent of public instruction and the Department of Education to “provide training and ...
California

National School Choice Week: The Middle Class Needs Choice, too

It’s National School Choice Week and governors and legislators in a number of states have proposed increasing schooling options for low-income students attending low-performing schools. While commendable, it’s important to point out that student under-achievement isn’t limited to low-income areas, but is also widespread in middle-class and more affluent suburbs ...
California

California Schools Behind the Curve

Gov. Jerry Brown said in his State of the State address that the so-called “declinists,” those who worry about California’s place in the nation and the world, are wrong. He pointed to areas where the state is supposedly ahead of rivals, like Texas, Massachusetts and New York. However, if one ...
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