When it comes to improving education whether we are talking student achievement outcomes or school improvement there are not silver bullets.
Utah Legislature Calls for Abolishment of U.S. Department of Education
The Utah Legislature passed a resolution calling for the repeal of mandates within ESEA and the abolishment of the U.S. Department of Education.
Evan McMullin: Eliminate Federal Common Core Mandates
New independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin says local control, expanded opportunity and a return to fundamentals are vital to reforming education.
Feds Bypass States to Get Local Districts to Sign “Future Ready District Pledge”
Missouri Education Watchdog first reported today that the U.S. Department of Education has sent out a letter to Superintendents of local school districts explaining their “future ready district pledge.” You can find the letter here and I also have the text below: Dear Superintendent, As one of more than 16,000 superintendents leading school districts across […]
Debunking Misconceptions: “The Common Core is State-Led”
I thought that I would start a series on common misconceptions related to the Common Core State Standards. I don’t know how frequently I’ll come back to this series, but as these misconceptions come up or as I hear them I want to address them. The first is one that I hear quite frequently and […]
Is Education a Massive Failure of Federalism?
Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, complained in his op/ed in The Washington Post about the Obama Administration’s use of waivers in circumventing the law. He wrote: The Obama administration is increasingly becoming known not for its legislative achievements but for its federal waivers to legislative achievements. It has exempted favored […]
And Mitt Romney’s Education Plan Receives a D
By our own Shane Vander Hart While there are some encouraging aspects to Governor Romney’s plan and I can point to specific improvements over what we currently see in the Obama administration. The complaint that Obama has expanded federal education bureaucracy, (pg. 13) is countered with slightly less federal bureaucracy. Given that the principles of […]
Local Control Doesn’t Have to Be Sacrificed for School Choice
The Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K-12 Education released a white paper this week entitled “Choice and Federalism: Defining the Federal Role in Education.” I looked forward to reading what this conservative think tank based at Stanford University had to say. I was disappointed. While I applaud their ideas as they relate to school […]
ALEC Education Task Force Approves Anti-Common Core Model Legislation
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) met last week in Scottsdale, AZ. They are an organization whose mission is “to advance the Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty, through a nonpartisan public-private partnership of America’s state legislators, members of the private sector, the federal government, and general public.” They have […]
Tom Pauken on the Decentralization of Discretionary Spending
Tom Pauken, author of Bringing America Home and chair of the Texas Workforce Commission, discussed the decentralization of discretionary spending during a speech at the Eastside Conservative Club in Altoona, IA. He mainly discusses education spending. Texans seem to understand the federalist position in regards to education intuitively.