Education Policy & School Reform News

The House Education and Workforce Committee recently marked up a number of proposals concerning higher education. Instead of using the opportunity to address the drivers of tuition inflation or encourage innovation in the higher education sphere, the proposed reforms maintain an open spigot of federal college subsidies. The package of proposals includes: 1. Simplifying the Application…

On Tuesday, the Senate considered a proposal that would expand Pell Grants (federal aid meant to help low-income students attend college) to cover year-round tuition. In theory, part-time and full-time students who have increased access to Pell Grants would be encouraged to finish their degrees faster and graduate with less debt. Unfortunately, the proposal to expand Pell…

Back in March 2014, Stanford University’s Graduate Student Council revoked funding and demanded exorbitant security fees (over $5,000!) from the Student Anscombe Society related to its event on traditional marriage, which featured Heritage fellow Ryan T. Anderson. Selectively charging outrageous security fees in order to make student leaders “voluntarily” shut down events that college administrations…

This week, the House is expected to markup its child nutrition bill, which covers programs such as school meals. The last child nutrition bill–the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010–made it possible for many children from middle-class and wealthy families to receive free school meals. The House should end this wasteful policy, known as the…

The House of Representatives will consider the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act (SOAR Reauthorization Act) on Friday, which would reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP). The OSP has allowed thousands of low-income and minority students in Washington, D.C., to thrive at schools of choice in the district, despite the Obama administration’s multiple…

George Mason University has announced it will rename its law school after the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. This stands in stark contrast to Georgetown Law Center, which sadly was embroiled in controversy over whether to even mourn the passing of this conservative legal icon. As an alumna of George Mason Law, I am…

Congress could soon find itself with a chance to radically improve the lives of thousands of children currently trapped in crumbling and failing schools now that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has proposed the Native American Educational Opportunity Act. The proposal would enable children attending Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools to access education savings accounts to…

Navigating life after college can be tricky for new graduates. Students are struggling to pay off debt and many recent graduates find their degrees don’t guarantee a job in their preferred field. The debt many students are incurring—more than $30,000 for the typical graduate—appears to be underwriting luxurious living at some universities. Recently, College Rank…

Several politicians have recently been offering free goodies to voters. One of the most popular of these, oddly enough, is something that several state governments have already tackled: free college tuition. The details vary by state, but Oregon, Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan, and Louisiana (among others) all use tax dollars to pay for at least some…

No child should be placed on a wait list to his future. Yet today, more than a million kids in cities across America languish on wait lists for the charter school of their choice. Many more can’t attend the private school of their choice, because their families simply cannot afford it. Millions of children have their…

It’s National School Choice Week, and I am so excited to see the incredible number of events around the country highlighting education. It brings back so many memories of how we got here. My fight for school choice began in the 1990s, when I was working for my child William to get a quality education in…