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Dear Fellow School Reformer,
It's been a busy week.
The new president's education proposal, just sent to Congress, is the
biggest news. It looks like the voucher aspect of the plan is dead on
arrival (to be sure, federal vouchers have been controversial even among
advocates of school choice). But another big feature of Bush's plan, a
hike in federal funding and involvement in local education matters, is
already getting bipartisan thumbs up. That doesn't bode too well for the
kind of marketesque decision-making favored by friends of school choice.
Getting less attention are recent advances for school choice at the
state level.
For example, in Virginia, a tax credit plan that would help private
education scholarships has just jumped through an important legislative
hoop, bringing it a step closer to law. That's despite the hand-wringing
of educrats in the state, who fear that if it were easier for parents to
try private options, more parents would try private options. They may
have a point there.
In Utah, charter schools authorized in 1998 have been challenged as
unconstitutional (if there's anything we've learned over the past decade
from the enemies of educational freedom, it's that anything that might
chip away at the calcified public education monopoly is
"unconstitutional"; only bureaucratic control is
"constitutional," it seems). But the Utah Supreme Court has
just shaken its head, No: Sorry, Utah educrats, no dice, said the court.
(We're paraphrasing.)
In New York City, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is still pushing for school
vouchers, despite the active opposition of the usual suspects, including
Peter Vallone, speaker of the city council (who wants to be mayor after
Giuliani goes).
We don't want to leave out the rest of the world, so we've also managed
to excavate a World Bank article on privatizing initiatives hither and
yon around the globe.
Finally, we'd like to draw your attention to a brand-new quarterly
education journal, Education Matters, a joint venture of the Hoover
Institution, Harvard University, the Thomas A. Fordham Foundation, and
the Manhattan Institute. The publication (which will be published online
as well as in print) looks low on axe-grinding spin, high on objective
research and analysis. In addition to other education-reform issues,
they'll be publishing a lot on school choice. Links to articles in the
first issue are below.
Yours for school choice,
David M. Brown
Editor
SchoolReformers.com
http://www.schoolreformers.com
NEWS REPORTS:
Bush sends education package to Capitol Hill
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George W. Bush unveiled his education plans to the country,
including a plan for school vouchers for students at government
schools that fail to improve their performance. Many Democrats
are trying to strip the choice element from the bill. (01/24/01)
http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/23/
bush.wrap/index.html
Virginia legislature advances tax credit plan that would aid private
scholarships
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The House Finance Committee yesterday narrowly endorsed a
controversial plan to give up to a $500 tax credit to Virginians
who donate money to organizations that provide tuition
assistance to students who attend private school. (1/23/01)
http://www.timesdispatch.com/MGBWBZW0BIC.html
Utah court rules charters are constitutional
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The Utah Supreme Court ruled Friday that charter schools are
constitutional, dealing a defeat to the Utah School Boards
Association. The association challenged a 1998 law that
authorized as many as eight charter schools to open in Utah
for a three-year experiment with rigorous controls. (1/19/01)
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,245015173,00.html
Big Apple mayor still vouching for school vouchers
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by Frankie Edozien
The Giuliani administration is again aggressively pushing for
a controversial school-voucher program it claims would give poor
students the same access to quality education as wealthy ones.
(1/24/01)
http://www.nypostonline.com/news/regionalnews/20878.htm
Republicans against vouchers
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George W. Bush can reform federal education programs without
turning to private school vouchers, moderate Republicans in
Congress say. (Site requires registration.) (1/13/01)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Moderates-
Education.html
A school built for Horace
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by Nancy Faust Sizer and Theodore R. Sizer
The founders of Parker Charter School tell their story. "Like
most applicants for a charter, we were attracted by the idea
that we could shape our own mission, present it to the state's
chartering authorities, and then be held to our own, but
externally validated, standards." (Spring 2001)
http://www.edmattersmore.org/2001sp/26.html
Schools of choice: in Michigan, crossovers reach 26,000
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by Julie Ross and Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki
"I grew up in the Detroit school system, and it wasn't a positive
experience," said Matney, a housekeeper who dropped out of
school in the 10th grade. "I wanted better for my kids."
(1/23/01)
http://www.freepress.com/news/education/choice23_2001
0123.htm
Common ground, common battleground
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by Gail Russell Chaddock
Teachers unions -- key players in crafting education legislation
during the Clinton years -- say they are willing to work with
the new Bush administration on many aspects of education reform,
but will go all out to block vouchers. (1/24/01)
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/01/24/fp1s2-csm.
shtml
San Francisco to boot out successful Edison schools
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A narrow majority of San Francisco's newly-elected school board
intends to boot for-profit Edison Schools out of the city --
even though Edison has dramatically improved the performance of
the school under its control. (1/18/01)
http://www.ncpa.org/pi/edu/pd011701b.html
Vouchers and Cleveland
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Two thirds of the voucher parents in Cleveland reported that they
were "very satisfied" with the academic quality of their
school,
versus one third of the public school parents. (11/29/97)
http://www.ncpa.org/pi/edu/dec97d.html
COMMENTARY, OPINION, AND BOOK REVIEWS:
Fixing schools without a voucher fight
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by Chester E. Finn, Jr.
"We should begin by acknowledging two facts of life. First, big
education decisions in America are made by states, communities,
schools and families, not by Washington. ... Second, present
federal education programs impede all school choice." (1/13/01)
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_nyt-fixing_schools.htm
A school-choice strategy for W.
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by Chester E. Finn Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli
"We're ardently for school choice. But when it comes to
Washington's always-marginal role in education policy, we
agree with Howard Fuller, head of the Black Alliance for
Educational Options. After Election Day defeats of California's
and Michigan's voucher initiatives, he remarked: 'We've got to
stop being so stupid. We've got to start thinking ten, twenty
years down the road.'" (1/16/01)
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment011601c.shtml
Give parents the reins
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by Darcy Olsen
"Until parents can demand that schools do it right and do it now,
so-called accountability measures amount to little more than
fresh paint on an old jalopy." (1/24/01)
http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-24-01.html
Book review: Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms
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reviewed by Gerald Grant and Jeffrey Mirel
Two views of Diane Ravitch's book. "Reveals that as necessary
as [various reforms] may be, revitalizing our schools ultimately
depends more on restoring liberal education to its rightful place
at the center of the American curriculum and breaking the grip
of harmful progressive ideas (particularly the progressive
antipathy to subject matter) ..." (Spring 2001)
http://www.edmattersmore.org/2001sp/71.html
Atlanta charter founders win praise
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by John Sherman
If a book like John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage" were to
be
written about Atlanta leaders who have faced daunting challenges
with confidence and resolution, surely it would include Tom
Cousins and Dr. Beverly Hall. (1/22/01)
http://atlanta.bcentral.com/atlanta/stories/2001/01/22/editorial1.html
We're winning!
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by Marshall Fritz
As the movement to separate education from government enters
a new millennium, Marshall Fritz, president of the Separation
of School and State Alliance, sees reasons for optimism in the
increased momentum and increasingly higher profile of the
movement. (1/12/01)
http://www.sepschool.org/Other/Fritz_Winning.htm
Teachers for school choice
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by David W. Kirkpatrick
Given the opposition of the National Education Association and the
American Federation of Teachers to school choice -- "in the case
of vouchers a constant drumbeat against them for more than 30
years" -- it isn't surprising that public teachers themselves
believe that pedagogical opposition to choice-based reform is
unanimous. (1/18/01)
http://www.educationnews.org/teachers_for_better_education.htm
New Zealand's ACT party on school choice
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A page on the educational views and proposals of a New Zealand
political party. "Government monopoly has caused too many young
New Zealanders to leave school ill-equipped to develop their
full potential. School choice can change incentives, empower
parents, enable talented teachers to be rewarded and give
students a greater opportunity to succeed."
http://www.act.org.nz/cgi-bin/publish/pages/page/31113
Memo to Bush, Paige: V is for vouchers
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Giving parents the option of taking their children to a private
school if their public schools are failing would be the most
flexible reform of all, says the Times. (1/16/01)
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/ed-house-2001116192558.htm
Vouchers, sort of
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Chicago parents should get vouchers to defray the cost of
after-school programs that bolster education and occupy kids
during high-risk afternoon hours before Mom and Dad get home
from work, Mayor Daley says. (1/18/01)
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/daley18.html
A case against compulsion
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by Mary K. Novello
"There is a new kind of bounty hunter in the state of Oregon. This
one tracks down the vicious criminals known as truants. In the
town of Brownsville, she can earn $300 for each child who is
returned to classes and a $500 bonus for turning in a youngster
who eventually graduates from high school." Argument for the
injustice and inefficacy of compulsory school attendance laws.
(1998)
wif@wips.org
http://www.wips.org/Studies/novello.htm
Latest educational insight: larnin' to read is bad
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by Amy Halloran
The professor revealed the terrorism inherent in reading to
children. She presented a paper (she read it aloud!) ... in
which she insisted that teaching kids to read initiates them
into the patriarchal construct of the family unit and society
at large. This initiation is, according to her, a brutal and
painful rite of passage ... (10/20/00)
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2000/10/30/violent_reading
/index.html
Judges flunk school vouchers
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by Bruce Fein
School vouchers hit a judicial land mine last December in the
U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that Cleveland's
voucher pilot program crashes into the constitutional wall
separating church and state. The anti-religious reasoning of the
majority would shipwreck George W. Bush's school voucher agenda,
says Fein. (1/16/01)
http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/commentary-200111
6181744.htm
Still disagreeing with Milt and Uncle Mike
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Teacher Burt Saxon believes vouchers are a bad idea -- a "bad
idea"
whose very existence has been beneficial, though. Saxon is more
favorable toward charter schools and says those who oppose
vouchers have failed to correct the conditions that have given
rise to their popularity. (1/17/01)
http://edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=18saxon.h20
EXPERTS:
Chester E. Finn, Jr.
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John M. Olin Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and President
of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. Finn has made his career in
education and government service. Author of about 300 articles
and eleven books, including "Charter Schools in Action" and
"Radical Education Reforms."
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/finn.htm
SCHOLARLY AND IN-DEPTH STUDIES:
Education vouchers in practice and principle: a world survey
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by Edwin G. West
Education vouchers around the world. "The typical voucher
system...appears to be contributing to the growth in quantity
and quality of schooling....Notable examples of it are found in
Chile, Colombia, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Belize and Lesotho.
Elsewhere the most striking cases occur in the U.S. (Milwaukee),
Poland, the U.K. and Sweden." (2/96)
http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/hnp/hddflash/workp/
wp_00064.html
The private can be public: making money at public education
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by John E. Chubb
For those who worry about the unpredictable consequences
of vouchers, but who recognize the need to bring competition,
choice, and change to public schools, private management offers
a very attractive compromise. (Spring 2001)
http://www.edmattersmore.org/2001sp/6chubb.html
Who wants private schools?
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by Terry Moe
At the heart of the voucher debate is a controversy over the
numbers and types of parents who want to go private, what
motivates them, and what a shift of parents from public to
private would mean for the larger society. (Spring 2001)
http://www.edmattersmore.org/2001sp/48.html
INTRODUCTIONS AND FAQS:
21 ways 'public schools' harm your children
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by R.C. Hoiles
"[B]ecause children can be taught what is right in tax-less schools
and they cannot be so taught in tax-run schools ... I am obliged
to do what little I can to get parents to see that they are not
doing their duty to their children by sending them to tax-run
schools." Forty years after their initial publication, Hoiles'
words still ring true.
http://www.sepschool.org/edlib/v3n2/21ways.html
BOOKS:
Top Ten Myths in Education: Fantasies Americans Love to Believe
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by Larry E. Frase and William Streshly
Frase and Streshly expose the myths that continue to retard
educational improvement with the hope that through exposure,
there can be immediate and dramatic improvements in the
anomalies that stem from these myths. (144pp., pb, 2000,
Scarecrow price: $14.95.)
ckeating@scarecrowpress.com
http://www.scarecrowpress.com/ISBN/0810837706
ONLINE RESOURCE DIRECTORIES:
Wisconsin Homeschooling
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An online resource for families interested in home learning. Visit
this site for easy access to homeschooling laws and support in
Wisconsin, classical curricula and links, and some of the best
home learning resources on the Internet.
tutor@voyager.net
http://my.voyager.net/~tutor/homeschool.htm
EVENTS:
Let parents choose their children's school
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February 7, 2001
A day-long forum at the National Press Club in Washington
DC that brings education policy experts together to
discuss the future of educational choice.
http://www.ncpa.org/eduagen.html
For more News Reports see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resources/bycategory/news/
For more Commentary, Opinion, and Book Reviews see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resources/bycategory/comm
entary/
For more Introductions and Backgrounders see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resources/bycategory/brief/
For more Scholarly and In-Depth Studies see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resources/bycategory/in-depth/
For more Online Books and Collections see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resources/bycategory/e-texts/
For more Books see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resources/bycategory/books/
For more Online Resource Directories see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resources/bycategory/hom
epages/
For more Events see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resources/bycategory/events/
For more Experts see:
http://www.SchoolReformers.com/resources/bycategory/experts/
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