Education Policy & School Reform News

School choice is now a reality for children in 24 states and Washington, D.C. They take advantage of some 40 options ranging from tuition scholarships to education savings accounts. Although states across the country have embraced school choice, rural states have done so more slowly, in part, say some, out of a belief that choice…

In North Carolina, the number of homeschoolers has now surpassed the number of students attending private schools. That statistic may seem shocking if you’ve been a stranger to the growth of the homeschooling movement, which has rapidly increased in recent decades. In 1973, there were approximately 13,000 children, ages 5 to 17, being homeschooled in…

America is built on the philosophy of bootstrapping, or pulling yourself up through your own talents and abilities. No tool is better suited for doing that than a good education. For years, however, a good primary and secondary education has been increasingly difficult to find. But I’m happy to report, at the start of another…

Less than two-thirds of high schools across the country offer physics. Just half offer calculus, according to Michael Horn, an education innovation guru. That only half of high schools offer calculus might come as a shock to a large portion of parents, who have worked to ensure their children have adequate educational opportunities. And it’s…

"Smile, it's your first day of school!" The (usually) dreaded sentence for kids, and the prized moment for parents — the once-a-year, back-to-school photo. Whether you're home-schooled, public-schooled, private-schooled, charter-schooled, or college-bound, the back-to-school photo is more than just a photo. It's the quick moment of nervous excitement that will soon be forgotten amid overdue homework and…

Boko Haram, the terrorist group operating in north-eastern Nigeria and northern Cameroon that drew headlines this spring after kidnapping over 250 female students, aligned itself publicly with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in July. The decision likely has more to do with fundraising than a realignment of goals and ideologies: Boko Haram…

Nineteen-year-old Jorge Perez will attend Columbia University this fall to study philosophy and economics—something his single mother, Sophia Flores, never dreamed for her son. But when Sophia discovered Florida’s tuition tax credit scholarship program in 2003, the doors of opportunity opened for Jorge. Sophia was able to use Jorge’s tax credit scholarship toward tuition at…

Another summer has come to an end. As I’ve been looking toward the new school year, I have had a chance to reflect on all the children who have touched my life over the past few years. In 2004, when the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) was implemented, I had the privilege of getting to…

This fall, more students than ever will head off to public charter schools as the school year begins. Approximately 2.5 million students will enroll in 6,500 charter schools across the country. Notably, from 2001 to 2011, charter school enrollment increased by 1.2 million students. Charter schools, which are public schools that are independently managed and…