Commentary
Charter Schools
Massachusetts Works to Expand Charter Schools
On November 18 the Massachusetts State Senate passed a much-anticipated bill to expand charter schools. The bill, S. 2216, sent to the House in the late hours of November 17, lifted the many caps hindering charter school expansion in the Bay State. Essentially, Massachusetts has two types of charter schools: ...
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 ...
Commentary
Democrats Whistling Past Graveyard
The unexpected victory of Republican Jimmy Higdon in the Kentucky state Senate special election — despite a 2-to-1 Democratic registration advantage — is another fire bell in the night that national Democrats are going to ignore. Marking the 33rd Republican win in the 50 or so special elections since 2008, ...
Commentary
Senators Report Reaching a ‘Compromise’ on the Public Option
On the expansion of the age of eligibility for Medicare, it is important to remember that the program today is already costing over $400 billion a year and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected it will be bankrupt in 2017 when it will cost in excess of $700 billion. ...
Commentary
California’s Push to the Finish Line
How legislators can make reforms last when Race to the Top money is gone The race among states is on for $700 million in federal education Race to the Top funds and as the January 19 application deadline approaches two bills in Sacramento are in play. In order to make ...
Commentary
Socialized medicine takes cheap way, restricts access
Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN), December 9, 2009 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Fran Quigley recently argued that “(health) care is cheaper and more widely available via government-run health care in countries like Japan and Great Britain” (“Don’t fear socialized medicine,” Nov. 30). But care is only cheaper in countries with socialized ...
Commentary
Debate: Don’t Buy Into Medicare Buy-In
Sphere (AOL News), December 9, 2009 (Dec. 9) — Senate leaders are knee-deep in negotiations over the final version of their health care reform bill. Public outcry – and fear of losing the support of wavering centrists – has forced Democratic chieftains to jettison the controversial “public option.” In its ...
Commentary
New Report Finds that Many Students at California’s “Middle Class” Public Schools Are Not Proficient in English or Mathematics
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. San Francisco–-The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released an update of its groundbreaking ...
Business & Economics
Plundering California
The economy is struggling, the unemployment rate is high, and many Americans are struggling to pay the bills, but one class of Americans is doing quite well: government workers. Their pay levels are soaring, they enjoy unmatched benefits, and they remain largely immune from layoffs, except for some overly publicized ...
Business & Economics
Bad suits need label
Most people assume when they order coffee it’s going to be served hot. That’s why people with brains were outraged in 1994, when a jury awarded a woman $2.86 million after she burned herself on hot coffee purchased from the fast-food purveyor. When McDonald’s added iced coffee to its menu ...
Massachusetts Works to Expand Charter Schools
On November 18 the Massachusetts State Senate passed a much-anticipated bill to expand charter schools. The bill, S. 2216, sent to the House in the late hours of November 17, lifted the many caps hindering charter school expansion in the Bay State. Essentially, Massachusetts has two types of charter schools: ...
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 ...
Democrats Whistling Past Graveyard
The unexpected victory of Republican Jimmy Higdon in the Kentucky state Senate special election — despite a 2-to-1 Democratic registration advantage — is another fire bell in the night that national Democrats are going to ignore. Marking the 33rd Republican win in the 50 or so special elections since 2008, ...
Senators Report Reaching a ‘Compromise’ on the Public Option
On the expansion of the age of eligibility for Medicare, it is important to remember that the program today is already costing over $400 billion a year and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected it will be bankrupt in 2017 when it will cost in excess of $700 billion. ...
California’s Push to the Finish Line
How legislators can make reforms last when Race to the Top money is gone The race among states is on for $700 million in federal education Race to the Top funds and as the January 19 application deadline approaches two bills in Sacramento are in play. In order to make ...
Socialized medicine takes cheap way, restricts access
Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN), December 9, 2009 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Fran Quigley recently argued that “(health) care is cheaper and more widely available via government-run health care in countries like Japan and Great Britain” (“Don’t fear socialized medicine,” Nov. 30). But care is only cheaper in countries with socialized ...
Debate: Don’t Buy Into Medicare Buy-In
Sphere (AOL News), December 9, 2009 (Dec. 9) — Senate leaders are knee-deep in negotiations over the final version of their health care reform bill. Public outcry – and fear of losing the support of wavering centrists – has forced Democratic chieftains to jettison the controversial “public option.” In its ...
New Report Finds that Many Students at California’s “Middle Class” Public Schools Are Not Proficient in English or Mathematics
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. San Francisco–-The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in San Francisco, released an update of its groundbreaking ...
Plundering California
The economy is struggling, the unemployment rate is high, and many Americans are struggling to pay the bills, but one class of Americans is doing quite well: government workers. Their pay levels are soaring, they enjoy unmatched benefits, and they remain largely immune from layoffs, except for some overly publicized ...
Bad suits need label
Most people assume when they order coffee it’s going to be served hot. That’s why people with brains were outraged in 1994, when a jury awarded a woman $2.86 million after she burned herself on hot coffee purchased from the fast-food purveyor. When McDonald’s added iced coffee to its menu ...
