EdChoice recently conducted a groundbreaking survey of military-connected families seeking to understand their perspectives on K-12 education and school choice. EdChoice is a nonpartisan research organization that promotes expanded educational options for all children. The survey found that families connected with the military highly value access to better educational environments for their children, want more […]
Portland Public Schools is redrawing the boundaries of more than a dozen schools and reassigning 5,000 students, ten percent of its enrollment. According to The Oregonian: “To make sure no school ends up understaffed or overcrowded, students must be shuffled.” In government-run school districts, kids are cards in a deck. The bureaucracy gets to deal, […]
America’s charter school movement celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. Since the first charter school opened in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1992, the number of charters nationwide has grown to about 7,000, serving three million students. Charter schools are public schools that operate according to a charter granted by a sponsoring agency (like a school […]
State economists have confirmed that individual Oregon income taxpayers will receive kicker refunds next year. Based on the May revenue forecast, more than $463 million will be returned to taxpayers as a credit on their 2018 tax bills, with the average refund being $227. But with the news that the coming refunds will reduce our […]
Why do many workers choose to opt out of union membership? Some believe they can make better use of their money than giving it to a union. Others “vote with their feet” against what they perceive to be poor union service or negotiating results. Still others leave because they oppose their unions’ political positions. They […]
Are we missing the trees for the forest in Oregon school funding and education reform debates? Media reports, school districts, and political leaders usually focus on the big picture: reaching a 100% high school graduation rate so all children have the best chance in life. That’s a great goal. Frequently lost, however, is the fact […]
Denisha Merriweather failed third grade twice. Today, she is finishing her master’s degree, thanks to Florida’s tax-credit-funded scholarship program. Last month Denisha was President Trump’s guest at his Address to Congress, where he called educational choice “the civil rights issue of our time.” The key to Denisha’s success was her godmother’s ability to remove Denisha […]
Last month, National Employee Freedom Week (August 14-20, 2016) called attention to the rights of union members to opt out of union membership if they choose and to stop paying dues and fees to unions they do not support. National Employee Freedom Week has conducted surveys of union members and households. One of this year’s […]
Your average high school students may not be able to explain a fictional company’s dividends to a lecture hall full of adults from the business world. But after five days at Young Entrepreneurs Business Week, they could. YEBW is a nonprofit annual summer camp founded in 2005 by young Oregon entrepreneurs Nick and Maurissa Fisher, […]
Flexibility Is Key: The Next Generation of Parental Choice Solutions By Kathryn Hickok Families in five states now have access to a special program called Educational Savings Accounts. Educational Saving Accounts, or ESAs, allow parents to take money the state otherwise would spend on their children in the public system and put it on a […]