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Using technology to transform our public schools
By Clayton M. Christensen and Michael B. Horn
Co-authors of "Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns" (McGraw-Hill, 2008).
Teachers, administrators, researchers, reformers, government leaders,
parents, and others have long extolled the benefits that computer-based
learning could have in schools: Educational video games, often referred
to as “edutainment” or “serious” games, could make learning fun and
motivating, especially for today’s students.
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Education Starts Here
by Ken Blackwell, Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow for Public Policy- Buckeye Institute, Columbus, OH
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama both say public schools need work, but neither of their proposed solutions get to the root problem of our education crisis.
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School Vouchers Help Improve Public Education
As some educators and school choice advocates begin to question
whether school vouchers can reform public education, a new study of
Milwaukee’s pioneering voucher program -- the nation’s oldest and
largest city-specific program -- concludes it has had a positive effect
on the city’s public schools and will become even more influential in
the near future.
“Can Vouchers Reform Public Schools? Lessons from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program” is available HERE.
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The Greatest Scandal
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The profound
failure of inner-city public schools to teach children may be the nation's
greatest scandal.
The differences between the two Presidential candidates on
this could hardly be more stark. John McCain is calling for alternatives to the
system; Barack Obama wants the kids to stay within that system.
We think the
facts support Senator McCain.
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‘Loyalty to the State’
The California court decision that essentially bans homeschooling has sparked a lot of concern, and rightly so.The decision quotes this revealing and chilling statement from a California court case in 1961:
A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare.
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Government-Funded Preschool Is No Solution, Researchers Say
From School Reform News:
By Jim Waters
Proponents of government-funded preschool programs, such as the one being considered in Missouri (see story on this page), often portray research as presenting an airtight case for long-term, positive effects from preschool programs.
Not so fast, say education researchers.
Lisa Snell, who directs the education program at the Reason Foundation in Los Angeles, says the most reliable research shows the positive effects of universal pre-K programs mostly disappear when children leave them.
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Congressional Hypocrisy on School Choice
In his final State of the Union Address, President Bush called on Congress to rescue disadvantaged children from failing public schools. Unfortunately, most politicians on Capitol Hill continue to deny poor children the same opportunities they support for college students and, most importantly, their own children.
President Bush proposed the "Pell Grants for Kids" initiative to give low-income children the same thing that college students get - federal scholarships to attend a school of their choosing. He also highlighted the success of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, which has helped thousands of low-income kids escape failing schools in the nation’s capital.
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February 2008 School Reform News
Free to Lose – Why We Don’t Have School Choice
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By Bruno Behrend
From an intellectual, economic, and moral perspective, school choice is so dramatically superior to the current overpriced, and under-performing system that its electoral failure simply must be viewed as a breakdown in terms of strategy. The United States of America has been in a state of educational crisis for at least 25 years with financial and academic evidence that the crisis is worsening. Perhaps it is time for promoters of school choice to change their strategy...
I believe that many political factors are working in school choice proponent’s favor. The “Government/Education Complex” has overreached in many states, and some people are beginning to wake up. The Education Industry has purchased legislation to pad payrolls, engaged in schemes to enrich their members, and promoted policies that are blatant grabs for greater money and political protection.
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Poll: Most parents favor non-public schools
A poll released Tuesday found that most Illinoisans would send their children to private, parochial or charter schools if they had the choice, according to an education think tank.
Representatives of the Illinois Policy Institute and other school-choice advocates said the study shows that the time is right for lawmakers to increase tax credits for parents whose children don't attend public schools and to remove the cap on the number of charter schools - institutions often operated by nonprofit organizations - in the state.
"Four out of five parents would opt out of the public school system if they could," John Tillman, chairman and chief executive officer of the Springfield-based institute, said at a Statehouse news conference.
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