America’s public schools are failing, under the influence of teachers’ unions and special interests. This monopolistic system traps students in an environment that is ill-equipped to provide them with the education they need. It’s time to put parents in charge, by giving them a real choice over how to educate their children. When schools compete and parents are free to choose, the educational benefits are amazing.
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State and federal policymakers alike are responding to calls from parents, taxpayers, and scholars to improve education by putting an end to the "one-size-fits-all" approach that most states currently use. Different states are taking different approaches to the issue.
Empower America Co-Director William J. Bennett, who served as the Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan, today urged the Senate to pass the Low Income School Choice Demonstration Act, introduced by Senator Judd Gregg.
Empower America Co-Director William J. Bennett, who served as the Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan, today urged the Senate to pass the Low Income School Choice Demonstration Act, introduced by Senator Judd Gregg.
TAMPA - Florida's voucher program remains alive but is facing changes after school grades improve.
America's only statewide school voucher program, once either feared or hoped to encompass hundreds of schools, is changing fast.
Because Florida's annual report card flunked no schools this year, Gov. Jeb Bush's voucher program remains stalled at 51 students from two Escambia County schools who are using public money to pay private school tuition.
As published in The New York Times, May 18, 2001
The Senate will soon complete work on President Bush's education bill, just as the House begins to consider amendments to it. Without some fundamental changes, however, this once bold plan is scarcely worth enacting.
Salem, OR - More than 200 Oregon CSE activists traveled from across the state to Salem to lobby their legislators in support of more school choice. In particular, they urged policymakers to support revisions to strengthen the state’s charter school law, as well as to support the Oregon School Accountability Enhancement Act, which would give local school districts the flexibility to opt out of the state’s current “one-size-fits-all” accountability system and choose another nationally recognized test.
I was in a hotel restaurant recently and asked the waitress if she had children. Yes, she said, she was a divorced mother of three. Then I asked her if she was in control of her children's education. She said she was.
"Did you pick the schools they go to?" I asked. "Did you approve the curriculum they're learning?"
"Heck, no," she said. "I can't even talk to who's teaching them."
The Florida House of Representatives approved a proposal by two Miami lawmakers Thursday that would offer $3,000 vouchers for private school tuition to students attending overcrowded public schools.
But two days of sound and fury about whether Republicans or Democrats care more for "the children" leading up to the 63-54 vote, mostly along party lines, signified next to nothing: Its companion bill is already all but dead in the Senate Education Committee at the hands of chairman Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie.
Schools ought to be more accountable for students’ educational achievement. To that end, President Bush’s education plan proposes to make accountability enforceable: If a school fails to make progress in educating disadvantaged students for three years, parents of these students could use federal Title I funds to move their children to an alternative public or private school.
Nearly 250 of Florida Citizens for a Sound Economy’s activists lobbied their state representatives to demand support for H.B. 303 and S.B. 504. This legislation applies to parents of students attending schools at over 120 percent capacity. Parents would be allowed to take part of the tax dollars spent on their child and use it at another public or private school. Activists also urged support for separate legislation to allow a tax credit for businesses that contribute to private scholarships, thereby making school choice available to even more parents.
Capitol Comment 298: Expanding Children’s Education Opportunities
State and federal policymakers alike are responding to calls from parents, taxpayers, and scholars to improve education by putting an end to the "one-size-fits-all" approach that most states currently use. Different states are taking different approaches to the issue.