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Recall and Recollection
Capital Ideas
By: Steven F. Hayward, Ph.D
7.28.2003
Everyone except the indifferent seems to look forward to recalling Governor Gray Davis with relish come October 7. No one so richly deserves the boot. Davis ran for governor in 1998 with the slogan, “Experience money can’t buy,” which prompted our friend Chuck Bell in Sacramento to suggest the obvious recall slogan: “Incompetence you can’t afford.”
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A Lesson for School Accountability
Capital Ideas
By: Lance T. Izumi, J.D.
7.23.2003
The New York Times recently reported that Texas state auditors have found that Houston schools have been seriously undercounting the number of dropouts. Partisan critics are using the audit results to take shots at U.S. education secretary Rod Paige, a former Houston superintendent, arguing that the city’s widely acclaimed education improvement is a myth. The critics, however, are missing the larger point that accountability systems must not create incentives for schools to cheat.
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Will librarians give up cash for civil liberties?
ePolicy
By: Sophia Cope
7.11.2003
Last month, the United States Supreme Court held as constitutional the section of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) that requires public libraries to use Internet filtering software to block access to material that is “obscene, child pornography or harmful to minors” as a condition of receiving federal funding. The way some libraries plan to respond could set a precedent.
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Reagan Country
Capital Ideas
By: Steven F. Hayward, Ph.D
7.10.2003
About ten years ago General Electric ran a splashy TV ad with the theme of the lights coming on within the previously dark and dank nations of Eastern Europe. Of course GE is in the business of touting light bulbs, but a walk through the heart of today’s Warsaw is to see the bright promise of a post-Communist era coming to life.
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Remedy for Michigan Case: State 209s
Capital Ideas
By: Lance T. Izumi, J.D.
7.2.2003
As various commentators have rightly pointed out, the U.S. Supreme Court blew the University of Michigan race-preference cases. By making racial “diversity” a compelling state interest that justifies race-based college admissions, the Court made racial discrimination constitutional. Rather than engaging in recriminations, however, opponents of racial preferences should mobilize a nationwide campaign to enact anti-preference laws such as California’s Proposition 209 in every state.
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A Brighter Future: New Study from Pacific Research Institute Outlines Policy Reforms for Children's Issues
By: Lawrence J. McQuillan, Ph.D
7.1.2003
That our children represent the future is an axiom to which all politicians subscribe. A survey of public policies that affect children, however, shows these policies to be woefully lacking, excessively costly, counterproductive, and even harmful to those they purport to serve. In A Brighter Future: Solutions to Policy Issues Affecting America's Children, edited by Lawrence J. McQuillan, director of PRI's Center for Entrepreneurship, the authors explain why deep reforms are necessary if today's children are to reach their full potential as productive, independent, and responsible adults.The need for comprehensive reform touches vital policy areas that affect children, directly and indirectly.
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The California Education Report Card: 2003
PRI Study
By: Lance T. Izumi, J.D., Matt Cox
7.1.2003
In 1997 and 2000, the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (PRI) issued the first and second editions of its California Index of Leading Education Indicators. Both editions gathered and presented data on education topics ranging from student test scores to teacher quality to government education spending and provided fresh interpretations of those data. Since 2000, there have been many new developments in education in California.
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Feminism as Colonialism: An Independence Day Meditation
By: Sally C. Pipes
7.1.2003
Citizens take to the highways in record numbers, flags unfurl, politicians make patriotic speeches, barbecues are stoked, libations poured in abundance, and fireworks light the sky. All well and good for July 4, but the celebration of independence should also prompt some reflection on the concept as advanced by feminists.
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