Commentary
School Finance, Governance, Private School Choice
On ESAs’ popularity and coming challenges: A letter to Checker Finn
Dear Checker,
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, School Finance, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders
Is transporting students for intradistrict open enrollment worth the cost?
In an effort to expand educational opportunity, several large urban school districts—including Boston, Chicago, New York City,
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, Career & Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders
Preparing young people for success at work is about knowledge and relationships
What does it mean to “prepare young people for adult work,” an oft-used saying to describe one of schooling’s primary goals? Though it surely means that we prepare them to earn a living and move up the income ladder, work is more than a financial way to provide for ourselves and those we love.
Commentary
School Finance, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Private School Choice
Why I’m wary of universal education savings accounts
In the fast-moving, highly energized world of school choice and parent-empowerment advocacy, education savings accounts are the hottest thing since vouchers, maybe even hotter. Ten states already have them in some form, and a dozen more legislatures are weighing bills to create them. But Finn is wary, particularly of the free-swinging, almost-anything-goes version known as “universal” ESAs.
Commentary
School Finance, Curriculum & Instruction, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders
Give parents wide latitude on ESA uses—and give teachers their own accounts, too
Recent news stories have pushed the narrative that parents are using education savings accounts to buy items of questionable educational value and relevance, including chicken coops, trampolines, and tickets to SeaWorld. But perhaps ESAs’ permissiveness is a feature, not a bug—and perhaps officials would be wise to go one step further and give teachers their own accounts.
Commentary
School Finance, Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders
Parent navigators are worth the investment for school choice supporters
From 2015 to 2018, the start of spring meant I could expect to hear from parents across Florida. At the time, I worked for Step Up Students, the Florida-based organization that administers the nation’s largest education scholarship (i.e., voucher) program. My job was not in customer service. I was the editor of a blog focused on school choice issues.
Commentary
School Finance, Governance, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders
How much education is a public responsibility?
So many of our debates about paying for higher education hinge on conflicting views of what’s the taxpayer’s responsibility and what’s the recipient’s. These days, that’s also true of pre-schooling and it also arises, albeit in different form, when we fight over vouchers, tax credits, ESAs and such. Is it society’s responsibility to pay for private schooling or is it the family’s?
Commentary
Evidence-Based Learning, School Finance, Teachers & School Leaders
Schools have been adding teachers and student support staff, even as they serve fewer students
Editor’s note: This was first published by The 74.
