Teacher unions
Special needs scholarships
Please meet Lucas Estrada. Lucas is an elementary student in Florida who has autism. A voucher through Florida's McKay scholarship program allowed him to attend a private school, where "Lucas thrives in academic...
Read moreCharter schools in Nevada need more control
Nevada's charter school situation is embarrassingly poor. We have about 420,000 students in the public school system and yet fewer than 30 charter schools. What, exactly, is a charter school? Basically it's a normal public school where tuition is free for all students and virtually whoever applies must be accepted. (Usually, if there are too many applications, a lottery is used.) Unlike traditional public schools, however, charter schools are free from much of the usual bureaucratic red tape.
High quality teachers needed
All 50 states have teacher-certification requirements, the justification being that, in order to determine who is a qualified teacher, prospects must be subjected to a lengthy process of schooling and testing. Typically, certified teachers have completed a degree in education (or have taken upwards of 30 hours of education-related coursework), completed a semester of student teaching and passed several hundred dollars worth of tests (which the would-be teachers usually pay to take).
Education myths
The Friedman Foundation released a great deal of information on education myths recently. The report includes both quick answers (for those who like it short and sweet) and detailed responses (for those who prefer academic erudition).
Rhee-forming education
Serious education reform is getting some unlikely allies these days. Washington, D.C.'s new school chancellor, Michelle Rhee, has become a no-holds-barred agitator for genuine education reform – starting with the administrators and then the teachers.
Presidential choice
President-elect Barack Obama has chosen to send his children to Sidwell Friends School, the elite private school where Bill Clinton sent his daughter during his presidency – a school that approaches $30,000 per year in tuition.
Solving Nevada's budget shortfall
Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Jim Rogers has outlined his plan for increasing government revenue. He proposes a mixture of raising fees, raising taxes, borrowing and begging.
Education palace
University of Arkansas education professor Dr. Jay P. Greene asks, in a recent blog post, "Why are schools so expensive?" That's a very good question to ask here in Nevada. Jay also made a great point on how it's not buildings that teach kids – a lesson our policymakers should learn, since a healthy chunk of Nevada's education spending is going toward building new schools.
The Government can't create jobs
Recently the Center for American Progress and the Nevada Conservation League partnered to report on the economic impact of federal investments in clean energy in Nevada.
Courage to reform
Spending more per student has not produced the results we've been promised for the last 50 years. To make matters worse, it seems there is a very small but negative relationship between spending more money on education and low-income student achievement. Spending more money on education is a policy that appears to leave the poor behind.
