Tag: Education

Tag: Education (page 4)

  • State of the State: Oklahoma image

    State of the State: Oklahoma

    Governor Fallin has traditionally been an ally of limited government, free markets and federalism. However, given the difficult economic circumstances that her oil-dependent state is suffering, the governor and legislature are in a trying position.

  • Digital Teaching and Learning Plan image

    Digital Teaching and Learning Plan

    This bill: Has the following goals: Dramatic improvement in student achievement evidenced through individual student content mastery and state determined assessments Skilled workforce development and employer/student alignment Long-term self-funding through budget savings and tax revenue enhancements Requires the State Board of Education to establish a digital teaching and learning taskforce to develop a plan for digital teaching and learning in elementary and secondary schools; and To develop a Digital Teaching and Learning master plan that will lead to dramatic improvements in student achievement; To develop a financial plan that leads to fiscal sustainability and accounts for the positive financial impact of the program; To conduct a technology readiness assessment of the public education system's current technology resources, instructional resources, and levels of professional development; To perform a school network infrastructure study to determine the technology infrastructure needs of the public education system to implement a digital teaching and learning program; and Report the findings to the Education Interim Committee and the Executive Appropriations Committee [or similar appropriate State education and appropriations legislative committees].

  • Dual Language Immersion Program Act image

    Dual Language Immersion Program Act

    This Act creates a pilot program, the Dual Language Immersion Program. It directs the State Board of Education to develop a course taught in one of the “critical languages” (as listed by the federal National Security Language Initiative, including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Hindi, and Korean), which can be either a traditional course or through digital or interactive course modules. The Board shall notify districts of the course’s availability, and may expand the program to include more course offerings subject to demand and available resources. The Act also funds incentives to 15 qualifying schools for offering pilot programs in Chinese, Spanish, French, and Navajo, as well as a 50-50 English-foreign language instructional model. This policy, after amendments, was approved unanimously.

  • Parental Choice Scholarship Program Act (Means-Tested Eligibility) image

    Parental Choice Scholarship Program Act (Means-Tested Eligibility)

    Summary: The Parental Choice Scholarship Program Act creates a scholarship program that provides children from low- and middle-income families the option to attend the public or private elementary or secondary school of their parents’ choice.

  • Resolution in Support of Private Sector Colleges and Universities image

    Resolution in Support of Private Sector Colleges and Universities

    WHEREAS, private sector colleges enroll nearly 2.6 million students in the United States and comprise 42 percent of the 6,667 Title-IV eligible postsecondary institutions; and WHEREAS, private sector…

  • How a University is Forcing Teachers to become Liberal Activists image

    How a University is Forcing Teachers to become Liberal Activists

    To pass, these future educators must act like liberal social activists. This blatant violation of freedom of conscience flies in the face of academic freedom. While it is entirely appropriate for teachers to educate students regarding social issues, it is inappropriate for teachers to use their classes to forcefully recruit students for progressive causes.

  • State of the State: Kansas image

    State of the State: Kansas

    Kansas’ economy is primed for strong growth. To sustain its tax cuts and create greater economic opportunity, Kansas must implement stronger spending reforms, as other tax-cutting states like North Carolina have done.

  • Rally for Rebecca image

    Rally for Rebecca

    On a freezing Monday morning, dozens of teachers, parents and policymakers gathered on the steps of the United States Supreme Court to cheer on plaintiff Rebecca Friedrichs during oral argument…

  • What State Legislatures are Doing to Protect Academic Freedom image

    What State Legislatures are Doing to Protect Academic Freedom

    Given recent campus protests, it is worth noting the efforts state legislatures are making to increase academic freedom at public universities. Virginia led this movement with its ban on free…

  • Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association image

    Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association

    Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association et al. is a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court filed by the Center for Individual Rights on behalf of Rebecca Friedrichs and…

  • Inez Feltscher Defends School Choice in O.C. Register image

    Inez Feltscher Defends School Choice in O.C. Register

    Board members of the Anaheim Union High School District and Superintendent Michael Matsuda took to the Voice of OC news site to argue that charter schools’ “main goal” is to…

  • Supreme Court Set to Review Forced Union Contributions from Teachers image

    Supreme Court Set to Review Forced Union Contributions from Teachers

    Teachers’ unions, like other unions, spend a great deal of money engaging in explicitly political activity like lobbying legislators and supporting candidates. Teachers’ unions have so far represented the strongest political challenge to transformative education reform, such as charter schools, voucher programs and education savings accounts. Unfortunately, that clout is built, at least in part, on the forced contributions of teachers who do not necessarily agree with the actions of the unions.

  • Feltscher to Breitbart: Omnibus Bill Fails to Reauthorize School Choice image

    Feltscher to Breitbart: Omnibus Bill Fails to Reauthorize School Choice

    Adding to other disappointments for conservatives, the FY 2016 omnibus spending bill does not include reauthorization for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP). The District’s scholarship program serves…

  • Feltscher Gives Interview on Education Policy at ALEC Winter Meeting image

    Feltscher Gives Interview on Education Policy at ALEC Winter Meeting

    At the 2015 ALEC States and Nation Policy Summity in Scottsdale, Arizona, ALEC Education and Workforce Director Inez Feltscher chatted with Trent England on MiddleGround Radio on AM 1640 in…

  • Campus Protests Highlight Need to Protect Free Speech image

    Campus Protests Highlight Need to Protect Free Speech

    Students at Yale and the University of Missouri have been exercising their First Amendment free speech right to protest—well—the right of others to exercise their right to free speech. Textbook…

  • Massachusetts Caps Boston Students’ Potential by Restricting Charter Growth image

    Massachusetts Caps Boston Students’ Potential by Restricting Charter Growth

    Looking in from the outside, one would think  this would be a great time to be a charter school operator in Boston. The city’s charter sector has garnered praise for…

  • An “Unconscionable Decision”: League of Women Voters et al., v. State of Washington image

    An “Unconscionable Decision”: League of Women Voters et al., v. State of Washington

    Late last Thursday, the Washington Supreme Court denied all motions to reconsider its decision in a case last month that sent shockwaves through the state’s charter schools. Just earlier…

  • Students Win in Louisiana: U.S. Department of Justice Loses Case to Shut Down School Choice image

    Students Win in Louisiana: U.S. Department of Justice Loses Case to Shut Down School Choice

    A U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against Louisiana’s scholarship law, which some worried might have national implications for school choice – is officially dead after the Fifth Circuit…

  • Report Card on American Education: State Education Rankings image

    Report Card on American Education: State Education Rankings

    Education Report Card By Dr. Matthew Ladner The 20th edition of the Report Card on American Education is a comprehensive overview of educational achievement levels, focusing on performance and gains for low-income…

  • Kasich Signs Ohio Bill Designed to Strengthen Public Charter School Accountability image

    Kasich Signs Ohio Bill Designed to Strengthen Public Charter School Accountability

    On November 1, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 2, a measure intended to significantly strengthen the state’s charter school laws. This bill overwhelmingly passed the Ohio…