Tomorrow is school election day, which prompts the question: Is a non-political approach to education possible–or even desirable? A recent article in the Star-Tribune carries the headline “School board races become more political.” The lead paragraph says, “polarizing politics seen nationwide are filtering down to the most local level.” What’s the evidence? “Community campaigns have endorsed strings of like-minded candidates, a blog with political accusations forced one […]
k-12 education
LaPlante: Union dinosaurs vs. online learning
Digital technology has transformed the way we read, bank, shop, keep in touch with one another, and do business. Can it shake up the nation’s sluggish public schools? Perhaps – but only if we don’t expect tomorrow’s schools to be managed like yesterday’s. Consider that, according to the Michigan Department of Education, one of every of four students who enters the ninth grade does not […]
Online Learning Grows Fastest in Charter Schools
Charter schools have been one of the most important innovations in public education in the last 20 years. They are the natural home to online learning, which is the next new thing. Online learning, which goes by the name of online learning, cyberschools, and a few other terms, is subject to both hype and unfair criticism these days. A recent report from the Office of […]
Did Michigan Drop the Factory Model of Schools?
The Michigan Legislature has enacted some sweeping changes in the state’s tenure laws for public school teachers. Good. It’s about time schools stopped acting like factories–at least in their personnel policies. If my quick review of the Legislature’s website is correct, the changes are made in HB4625,HB4626, HB4627, and HB4628. Michigan, by the way, is following in the footsteps of other states, including Florida and Indiana. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, […]
Do children in America’s capitol have better options than those in Detroit?
Thanks to View colleague Henry Payne for pointing out a good feature of the recent budget agreement in Washington, DC: It breathes new life into the DC school voucher plan, giving it a five-year extension. That’s good news all around. The program is popular with district residents, and garners near-universal support from parents who have taken advantage of the program. Debates over school reform often break down into […]
Time for Michigan to embrace educational options and end religious bigotry
Arizona, like several other states, lets people get tax credits if they give money to organizations that in turn give scholarships for children who wish to attend a private school. In fact, Arizona kids can get financial help this way, even if they want to attend a religious school. The ACLU and the public school establishment didn’t like this, so a legal challenge ensued, with […]
Minnesota on Math
According to a recent report, “math skills better predict future earnings and other economic outcomes than other skills learned in high school.” So how does Minnesota compare with the other states and countries around the world? We get some answers in “U.S. Math Performance in Global Perspective” (PDF), published by the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University. Minnesota does well compared with other […]
Will the New Charter School Law Close Options to 13,000 Children?
Last year the Minnesota Legislature imposed new requirements on the organizations that oversee charter schools. As a result, as many as 13,000 children may be forced back into district schools next year. Maybe the decision for the Minnesota Department of Education to get out of the business of serving as an overseer should be reconsidered. A school in a public school district is overseen by […]
School Choice is Gaining Ground
Since this is National School Choice, I’m offering up a five-minute interview of Jay P. Green by Nick Gillespie. According to Green, there are two major benefits of school choice: We can customize education to meet the needs of children and parents. Through choice and competition, we keep costs under control and improve performance. How much headway has the push for school choice made? A […]
School Choice is Good Because It’s a Moral Policy
Though people can have many reasons for supporting school choice, it’s commonly supported by free-market institutes. Why is that? The answer may be obvious, but then again, maybe not, so here’s an answer: An advocate of maximizing the role of markets in public policy should support such a policy because it maximizes the role of individual choice in the distribution of goods and services in […]