Choice Remarks

Group warns of mendacious conspiracy theorists

2013-05-21T21:21:00.000-05:00

Stand for Children Oklahoma is an organization which strongly supports the Common Core State Standards. In a recent blog post, the group's government affairs director, Amber England, warned darkly: "There’s a faction of conspiracy theorists spreading lies about Common Core State Standards. Some lawmakers have bought into their fear mongering and are now about to flip-flop on the courageous stand they took for higher standards for Oklahoma students in 2010."

Over the weekend I left a comment on that particular blog post, but, oddly enough, it went unpublished. Given that my comment relates in part to school choice, I will publish it here:

Informative post. But when you speak of conspiracy theorists who are guilty of fear-mongering and spreading lies, to whom are you referring?

Are you referring to Heritage Foundation scholar Lindsey Burke, who, in 2011 testimony before the Common Education Committee of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, urged Oklahoma to “push back against this unprecedented federal overreach into what is taught in your local classrooms”? I happen to know her testimony was persuasive to many lawmakers. Are you saying she was fear-mongering and spreading lies?

Or are you referring to another Common Core opponent, the Home School Legal Defense Association? Lord knows those folks can light up the switchboards, and state lawmakers almost always take notice. But are you saying the homeschoolers are lying?

Or are you referring to the Republican National Committee, which last month passed a resolution opposing the Common Core?

Exactly which Common Core opponents — Cato Institute? American Association of Christian Schools? — are spreading lies? Is it the education task force of the American Legislative Exchange Council? Is it the various free-market think tanks across the country? Is it University of Arkansas professor Jay Greene, who says Common Core is hostile to school choice?

Or are you referring to American Federation of Teachers boss Randi Weingarten, who last month suggested a time-out on the stakes associated with Common Core tests?

All of these people (with the exception of Weingarten) are my friends and allies, and none of them are given to fear-mongering or spreading lies.

Another scholarship fund launched

2013-05-18T21:03:00.001-05:00

Read all about the GO for Catholic Schools Scholarship Fund.

Choice in education

2013-05-18T20:39:00.003-05:00

Don't want to damage their self-esteem

2013-05-14T12:27:00.000-05:00

The Oklahoman reminds us that many Oklahoma schools "now have either formal or informal minimum-grade policies requiring teachers to give students at least a 50 even when a student doesn't turn in homework."

Empty OKC schools waste taxpayer money

2013-05-11T23:03:00.001-05:00

Fox 25 has the story.

Census Bureau notes decline in private-school enrollment

2013-05-09T11:22:00.004-05:00

The growth in charter schools could be a contributing factor.

Cole introduces tax-deduction bill for homeschoolers

2013-05-08T09:16:00.000-05:00

Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole yesterday introduced H.R. 1850, the Home School Equity Act for Tax Relief, according to a press release from his office.

This legislation allows home school families to receive the same tax deduction currently offered to elementary and secondary teachers for education expenses. Currently, home school families are only eligible for this tax credit in states where they are defined as “private” schools; H.R. 1850 would make this definition apply to all fifty states.

“Home school students have increasingly become recognized for their academic achievement and high performance levels,” said Congressman Cole. “As valuable contributors to our nation’s academic future and with more than 1.5 million students nationwide, it makes sense that home school families should also receive this tax credit.

“Choosing to educate children at home is not an easy or inexpensive decision for parents. It requires hours of time teaching and planning, commitment by at least one parent to stay at home and thousands of dollars spent for educational supplies each year. For families in many communities, home schooling is also the only alternative to failing public schools. In order for families to continue providing quality education at home, it is essential that they have the best resources for that success.

“Home school families are directly training up the next generation of leaders. We should support their continued success.”

'Controlling population and public education'

2013-05-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

"It is likely that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will continue its commitment to global population control, and now, curriculum creation in the nation’s schools because they truly believe that they know better than anyone else how we all should live," writes Professor Anne Hendershott. "The Core Curriculum is really just another component of population control — it is used to help teach children the 'facts' about climate change and problems of overpopulation."

All of which is sufficiently evil in and of itself, but what's interesting for the purposes of this blog "are concerns that the imposition of the Common Core within the public schools could threaten the autonomy of private schools, religious schools, and home schools.

An op-ed published in the Orange County Register by Robert Holland, claims that the Common Core could "morph into a national curriculum that will stifle the family-centered creativity that has fostered high rates of achievement and growth for home education…Many private and parochial schools — including those of the 100 Roman Catholic dioceses across the nation, already are adopting the CCSS prescriptions for math and English classes…Their debatable reasoning is that the rush of most state governments to embrace the national standards means publishers of textbooks and tests will fall in line, thereby leaving private schools with no practical alternatives for instructional materials. According to October 8, 2012 article in Education Week by Erik Robelin, it is not just Catholic schools that are adopting the Common Core, some Lutheran and other denominations of Christian schools are shifting to the Common Core, including Grand Rapids Christian in Michigan and the Christian Academy School System in Louisville, KY. According to Robelin, parochial school leaders claim that they must 'remain competitive' with public schools and now feel pressured to adopt the Core. These are real concerns. As Diane Ravitch points out, 'Now that David Coleman, the primary architect of the Common Core standards has become president of the College Board, we can expect that SAT will be aligned to the standards. No one will escape their reach, whether they attend public or private school.'"

Indiana mom says Common Core limits school choice

2013-04-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

"As a parent whose children attend a parochial, voucher-accepting school," an Indiana mom says, "I have learned about the Voucher-Common Core link the hard way — in the form of changes to my child's curriculum."

School choice a key part of Women's Lib 2.0

2013-04-30T09:47:00.001-05:00

Twentysomething Tina Dzurisin explains.

A nation (still) at risk

2013-04-27T12:45:00.000-05:00

ESA provides customized education for special-needs child

2013-04-10T09:35:00.002-05:00

Celebrate diversity

2013-04-09T17:40:00.000-05:00

The Oklahoma League of Women Voters describes itself as a "nonpartisan political organization" which "works to increase understanding of major public policy issues." To that end, the League is presenting a panel discussion this evening on the topic of education spending. As you can tell by the list of panelists, topics, and sponsors, the League went out of its way to include people from both sides of the issue -- people who think the current failed monopoly deserves more money, and people who think it deserves tons more money.

A tip of the cap to this liberal organization for making this a nonpartisan affair -- both liberal Democrats and liberal Republicans should feel right at home.

More undercounting

2013-04-05T14:48:00.001-05:00

The government's "official" per-pupil spending figures do not incorporate the full cost of teacher pensions, Jason Richwine of the Heritage Foundation writes.

Taxpayers ponying up for K-12 education. Again

2013-04-01T20:09:00.002-05:00

"Almost four out of 10 Oklahoma high school alumni who enroll in the state's higher education system the fall after graduation take at least one developmental course as college freshmen," the Tulsa World reports.

'18 reasons why doctors and lawyers homeschool their children'

2013-04-01T13:34:00.000-05:00

A pediatrician explains.

Oklahoma senator: 'The civil rights issue of today is school choice'

2013-03-22T18:06:00.000-05:00

Expand the 'school choice' conversation

2013-03-21T14:45:00.001-05:00

"School choice is the great white hope on the right," Ben Domenech writes ("The Right Needs an ETSY Earner Agenda"), "but they should expand their normal conversation about it to include the parent trigger and education savings accounts which can be used toward Pre-K or toward child care."

Ed prof gives 'generally positive evaluation of homeschooling'

2013-03-18T16:28:00.001-05:00

In the April issue of First Things, Mary McConnell reviews Homeschooling in America: Capturing and Assessing the Movement by Joseph Murphy. "A professor of education at Vanderbilt, Murphy is a social scientist, not an advocate, which makes his generally positive evaluation of homeschooling all the more significant," McConnell writes.

His survey of the social science literature on the topic usefully, if sometimes turgidly, compiles the growing evidence that homeschooled children learn more than their counterparts, at least to the extent that standardized tests measure learning, and are emotionally healthier as well, at least to the extent that psychologists' "self-esteem and self-concept" scales truly capture emotional health. They volunteer many more hours in their communities and even spend more time participating in extracurricular activities.

While these findings have been widely reported, some of the other studies he describes deserve more attention. For example, low-income children who are homeschooled often reach or exceed national academic averages, whereas the average low-income children in public schools score "considerably below" the national norm.

Likewise, homeschooling seems to mitigate the negative effects of low levels of parents' education on student achievement—a finding that’s especially intriguing since these parents are the educators—as well as the negative effects of family socioeconomic variables and race displayed in public schools. It's easy to postulate that homeschooling parents are unusually committed, but these results still challenge the prevailing orthodoxy that societal problems inevitably hold education hostage.

Duncan families thankful for homeschool freedom

2013-03-18T13:22:00.002-05:00

"We have leaders in our state that are friendly to homeschooling."

'Preschool preparation need not take place in a school environment'

2013-03-16T22:26:00.005-05:00

Instead of spending $10,000 per child, how about $10 per child?

The high cost of substitute teachers

2013-03-15T16:23:00.001-05:00

"U.S. teachers take off an average of 9.4 days (roughly 1 day per month) each during a typical 180-day school year," June Kronholz writes in Education Next. "By that estimate, the average child has substitute teachers for more than six months of his school career."

Duke University researchers Charles Clotfelter, Helen Ladd, and Jacob Vigdor "found that being taught by a sub for 10 days a year has a larger effect on a child’s math score than if he’d changed schools, and about half the size of the effect of poverty," Kronholz adds. "Columbia researchers Mariesa Herrmann and Jonah Rockoff concluded that the effect on learning of using a substitute for even a day is greater than the effect of replacing an average teacher with a terrible one, that is, a teacher in the 10th percentile for math instruction and the 20th percentile in English instruction."

The best 'early childhood education'

2013-03-15T14:23:00.002-05:00

Begins at home.

Is homeschooling a universal human right?

2013-03-15T13:57:00.000-05:00

Shelton proposes vouchers 'if parents feel their children are unsafe'

2013-03-12T12:04:00.002-05:00

"Parents who object to their local public schools' arming teachers and administrators could send their children to private schools at state expense under legislation filed Monday by Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City," Randy Krehbiel reports in the Tulsa World. And though Rep. Shelton and I are coming at this from different points of view, I agree with his statement that "if parents feel their children are unsafe ... then schools should provide vouchers so kids can go elsewhere."