Public Schools
Commentary
Taking It to the Streets
Earlier this month, thousands of parents took to the streets of Los Angeles to protest the ongoing assault against their children’s charter schools by the powerful Los Angeles Unified School District. “Families That Can,” the new parent organization and the first-ever statewide advocacy organization for charter school families, objects to ...
Ian Randolph
June 18, 2008
Commentary
Reshuffling is not reform
Arizona Capital Times, June 13, 2008 This November, Arizona voters will decide whether 76 school districts should be combined into 27 larger, unified districts. Prompting the ballot initiative is the fact that fewer than six cents of every education dollar ever reaches the classroom. But don’t bank on statewide unification ...
Vicki E. Murray
June 13, 2008
Charter Schools
Report: Charter Schools in Los Angeles Unified Outperforming Traditional Public Schools
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Charter schools in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) are outperforming traditional public schools on a variety of student achievement measures, according to a revealing analysis released today by the California Charter Schools Association. Entitled, “Charter School Performance in Los Angeles Unified School District: A District and Neighborhood ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 10, 2008
Charter Schools
Incentive Programs Improve Student Achievement in Charter Schools
Sacramento Union, June 5, 2008 SACRAMENTO – Rewards and incentives, widely used in charter schools, play a key role in reading achievement, according to Paying for A’s, a new report from the Center for Education Research Outcomes at Stanford University. “Incentive programs may not be a silver bullet, but they ...
Vicki E. Murray
June 5, 2008
California
10 Years After End of Bilingual Education in California New Study Documents Attempts to Thwart English Immersion
Today California celebrates the 10th anniversary of Proposition 227, the “English for the Children” initiative many believed would end bilingual education in the public schools. Despite the positive results of Prop. 227, a new study by the Pacific Research Institute, a California based think-tank, raises serious concerns about how the ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 2, 2008
Commentary
How Good is Your Public School?
Richard John Neuhaus writes that school choice is a moral issue, but that many middle-class families, with some justification, fear that vouchers would harm their own children’s schools. We certainly think those fears are misplaced, but the question got us thinking: How good are those schools, anyway? The Pacific Research ...
Pacific Research Institute
May 22, 2008
Commentary
Testimony submitted to the CA Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation – AB-2605
Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D. and senior fellow in Education Studies, gave invited testimony on AB 2605, the Tax Credits for Non-Public School Families bill, at a meeting of the California Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee on May 6, 2008. Non-public schools are a vibrant and integral part of California’s educational ...
Vicki E. Murray
May 6, 2008
Commentary
California Report Card Shows Dismal Results
School Reform News (The Heartland Institute), May 1, 2008 A February 15 report card from the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, evaluated and graded 17 aspects of California’s K-12 education system, finding the state’s performance disastrously poor. Among the factors evaluated are the state’s ...
Vicki E. Murray
May 1, 2008
Commentary
California Dropout Study Sparks Controversy
A study of California’s high school dropout rate has sparked a debate about the merits of nontraditional schools. According to the study, 41 percent of California’s dropouts come from nontraditional schools such as charter and alternative schools, which educate 12 percent of the state’s children. Critics of the study, released ...
Aricka Flowers
May 1, 2008
Commentary
Beware ‘less-than-best’ schools
FORBES magazine recently released another popular “best” list, this one rating the top suburbs in America. The selections derive from several factors, including school quality. The indicators, however, do not necessarily guarantee a top-quality school. Forbes’ analysis looked at graduation rates, per-pupil spending, and student-to-teacher ratios. However, none of this ...
Lance T. izumi
April 26, 2008
Taking It to the Streets
Earlier this month, thousands of parents took to the streets of Los Angeles to protest the ongoing assault against their children’s charter schools by the powerful Los Angeles Unified School District. “Families That Can,” the new parent organization and the first-ever statewide advocacy organization for charter school families, objects to ...
Reshuffling is not reform
Arizona Capital Times, June 13, 2008 This November, Arizona voters will decide whether 76 school districts should be combined into 27 larger, unified districts. Prompting the ballot initiative is the fact that fewer than six cents of every education dollar ever reaches the classroom. But don’t bank on statewide unification ...
Report: Charter Schools in Los Angeles Unified Outperforming Traditional Public Schools
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Charter schools in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) are outperforming traditional public schools on a variety of student achievement measures, according to a revealing analysis released today by the California Charter Schools Association. Entitled, “Charter School Performance in Los Angeles Unified School District: A District and Neighborhood ...
Incentive Programs Improve Student Achievement in Charter Schools
Sacramento Union, June 5, 2008 SACRAMENTO – Rewards and incentives, widely used in charter schools, play a key role in reading achievement, according to Paying for A’s, a new report from the Center for Education Research Outcomes at Stanford University. “Incentive programs may not be a silver bullet, but they ...
10 Years After End of Bilingual Education in California New Study Documents Attempts to Thwart English Immersion
Today California celebrates the 10th anniversary of Proposition 227, the “English for the Children” initiative many believed would end bilingual education in the public schools. Despite the positive results of Prop. 227, a new study by the Pacific Research Institute, a California based think-tank, raises serious concerns about how the ...
How Good is Your Public School?
Richard John Neuhaus writes that school choice is a moral issue, but that many middle-class families, with some justification, fear that vouchers would harm their own children’s schools. We certainly think those fears are misplaced, but the question got us thinking: How good are those schools, anyway? The Pacific Research ...
Testimony submitted to the CA Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation – AB-2605
Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D. and senior fellow in Education Studies, gave invited testimony on AB 2605, the Tax Credits for Non-Public School Families bill, at a meeting of the California Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee on May 6, 2008. Non-public schools are a vibrant and integral part of California’s educational ...
California Report Card Shows Dismal Results
School Reform News (The Heartland Institute), May 1, 2008 A February 15 report card from the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, evaluated and graded 17 aspects of California’s K-12 education system, finding the state’s performance disastrously poor. Among the factors evaluated are the state’s ...
California Dropout Study Sparks Controversy
A study of California’s high school dropout rate has sparked a debate about the merits of nontraditional schools. According to the study, 41 percent of California’s dropouts come from nontraditional schools such as charter and alternative schools, which educate 12 percent of the state’s children. Critics of the study, released ...
Beware ‘less-than-best’ schools
FORBES magazine recently released another popular “best” list, this one rating the top suburbs in America. The selections derive from several factors, including school quality. The indicators, however, do not necessarily guarantee a top-quality school. Forbes’ analysis looked at graduation rates, per-pupil spending, and student-to-teacher ratios. However, none of this ...