Education News
Reports on education reform, school choice, and classroom policies. The Daily Signal provides conservative commentary and opinion alongside education news.
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- Opinion
Baltimore’s Answer to High Homicide Rates and Low School Performance? Ban Plastic Bags
What do you do when your community faces crushing poverty, failing schools, and disturbing homicide rates? In Baltimore, the answer is: Ban plastic bags, of course. Yes, Charm City is saving the world, one plastic bag at a time. The Baltimore City Council passed a citywide ban on retailers’ use of plastic bags at checkout…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
We Hear You: ‘Education Is Too Important to Leave to Professionals’
Editor's note: Count on The Daily Signal's audience to have a lot to say on the state of public education and other topics, as this week's mailbag reveals. You can join in by emailing [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Excellent article by Fred Lucas about the education failures of the Great Society (“Why LBJ’s Great…Ken McIntyre -
- Opinion
What I Learned About the Transgender Politics Injected Into This Affluent County’s Schools
I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, which has the 10th-largest public school district in the nation, but I never focused on our public schools. My kids go to Catholic schools, and that was the center of our universe. I never focused, that is, until I heard that the Fairfax County School Board voted to let…Cathy Ruse -
- Opinion
Nation’s Report Card Shows Why We Should Get Washington Out of Education
Across the country, math and reading scores have continued a yearslong stagnation, with students largely showing no progress in academic achievement. That’s one major takeaway from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress, released earlier this week by the National Assessment Governing Board. Often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, the assessment tracks the…Lindsey Burke -
- Opinion
We Hear You: Notes on Our Schools From the ‘Belly of the Beast’
Editor's note: We’re back with a roundup of your emails, beginning with one on the state of public schools from a correspondent who recently moved from California to Virginia. Don’t forget to write us at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: About your "Back to School Edition" roundup of reader comments: I served on a consultative…Ken McIntyre -
- Opinion
Student Loans Can Be Perilous. Here’s a Better Way to Pay for College.
Student loan debt keeps growing. There is a better solution than the ones politicians offer, which stick the taxpayer or the loan lenders with the whole bill. It’s called an “income share agreement.” Investors give money to a college, and the college then gives a free or partially free education to some students. When those…John Stossel -
- Opinion
‘Micro-Schools’ Punch Above Their Weight by Offering Personalized Education
With the school year in full swing, anxious parents hope their children are content in their local schools. Families worry about finding the right school environment for their children, especially since every child learns differently. Take the Gilbert family, in Florida, whose story captures the importance of having multiple education options. Four of their five…Jude Schwalbach -
- Opinion
Problematic Women: How Big Government Education Programs Failed the Young
This week on “Problematic Women” we talk with Lindsey Burke, The Heritage Foundation’s education fellow, about a new collection of essays, “The Not-So-Great Society.” Burke, co-editor of the project, discusses what Lyndon B. Johnson’s programs really did for public education, and it’s little that is positive. She also suggests how we can begin to solve…Virginia Allen -
- News
Why LBJ’s Great Society Gets a Failing Grade in Improving Education
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s vision for a Great Society unleashed an army of bureaucrats on American schools but produced little or no improvements to public education in 54 years, according to a new report published by The Heritage Foundation. The report, titled “The Not-So-Great Society,” delves into the impact of Johnson’s string of initiatives—among them…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Puerto Rico’s School Choice Reforms Are Helping Kids
Last year brought a whirlwind of education opportunities to Puerto Rican families. The island’s first charter school, Proyecto Vimenti, opened to serve disadvantaged children. The commonwealth’s legislature approved a private school scholarship program for children who are bullied, experience sexual harassment, or who have special needs. These were notable victories for families where most have…Jude Schwalbach -
- Opinion
How to Beat the Student Debt Crisis
The cost of college has gone sky-high, and now Americans are $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. How did we get here? And how do we get out? Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and The Heritage Foundation’s Mary Clare Amselem explain on this week’s episode of Washington Waste Wednesday.Mary Clare Amselem -
- Opinion
After Getting Kicked Off Campus, This Christian Group Got Justice
In a significant win for religious liberty, a federal court last month ruled that a state university in Iowa can’t require a Christian student organization to have non-Christian leaders. The court ruled that the university had discriminated against the Christian group and that top university officers, including the vice president, must pay out of their…Nicole Russell -
- Opinion
Teacher Fired Over Trans Pronouns Sues School
West Point High School French teacher Peter Vlaming is a soft-spoken man who was well loved by his students. He wasn’t looking for a fight. He was just looking to do his job. But when the school demanded that he use male pronouns for a biological girl student who had decided to identify as a…Cathy Ruse -
- Opinion
How 1 Man Is Leading the Fight for School Choice in Richmond
Antione Green is working to open a second charter school in Richmond, Virginia. The school, called Richmond Urban Collective, would serve at-risk boys in grades six through eight. Although he is facing steep opposition from the school board in the city, Green has mobilized parents around Richmond who are supportive of his fight to bring…Lindsey Burke -
- Opinion
How 1 Woman Helped DC’s Underprivileged Kids Find School Success
When Virginia Walden Ford crossed the threshold of her new high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, as one of the second wave of black students to integrate the school, little did she know these were her first steps in a lifetime journey to champion educational opportunity for all children. Ford would go on to help…Jude Schwalbach -
- Opinion
Americans Deserve Better Schools
With most services, you get to shop around, but rarely can you do that with government-run schools. Philadelphia mom Elaine Wells was upset to learn that there were fights every day in the school her son attended. So she walked him over to another school. “We went to go enroll and we were told, ‘He…John Stossel -
- Opinion
Memo to Teachers Unions: Charter Schools Clearly Benefit Students
When Morgan Waldrop started high school, academics weren’t much of a priority. “It wasn’t even a goal of mine to be at the top of my class,” Waldrop says. But when she became pregnant, her goals changed. “Focusing on my schoolwork was focusing on my son so that I could provide a future for him,” she says. Starting in…Jonathan Butcher -
- Opinion
America’s Children Need Universal School Choice Now More Than Ever
What social institutions have the most immediate and strongest impact on a child’s development and well-being? According to researchers for the Pew Charitable Trust’s Economic Mobility Project, it’s the child’s family circumstances, with schools ranking as the second-most important factor. In the U.S., family circumstances and schools are closely linked, because most cities and counties link schooling to housing….Lindsey Burke -
- Opinion
Justice for Victims of School Shootings Act Could Have Unintended Consequences
Another member of Congress, this time a Republican, has succumbed to the temptation of creating a federal crime where one isn’t needed. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, on Aug. 23 introduced the Justice for Victims of School Shootings Act, which would make carrying out, or conspiring to carry out, a school shooting a federal crime. At…GianCarlo Canaparo -
- Opinion
We Hear You: Our ‘Back to School’ Edition
Editor's note: Kids of all ages are returning to school, and "We Hear You" is back from a summer hiatus. What could be more fitting than some of your letters on the state of public education? Remember to write us at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: I'm writing with thoughts arising from Stephanie Curry’s commentary…Ken McIntyre