Tag: public schools

School Choice Thrown Under the Bus Again

Commentary Have you heard the outrageous story of what happened recently in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s capital? Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.), elected in 2022, had campaigned on school choice for tens of thousands of children, mostly minorities, who are forced to attend failing public schools in places like Philadelphia. “It’s what I believe,” Shapiro, then state attorney…


Michael Zwaagstra: Ideology Trumps Merit in Toronto Schools

Commentary As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Poor grammar notwithstanding, this is in fact very good advice. You shouldn’t take apart your car’s engine, for example, when things are running smoothly. It’s a surefire way to create problems where none had previously existed. Too bad the administrators and trustees…


Suddenly, School Choice: Its Rapid Post-Pandemic Expansion Sets Up a Big Pass/Fail Test for Education

News Analysis A growing number of states are adopting a comprehensive new type of school choice program that would pose a threat to public schools if many students were to leave them for a private education. Eight states—including Arizona, Florida, Indiana, and West Virginia—have approved “universal” or near-universal school choice laws since 2021. They open…


Maldonado’s Pet Project

This is an adapted excerpt from Kenny Xu’s new book “School of Woke: How Critical Race Theory Infiltrated American Schools and Why We Must Reclaim Them.” When she arrived, Hilda Maldonado’s top priority was to entrench bilingual learning into the county’s curriculum, a program she had spent most of her career advocating for as part…


What’s the Matter With Texas Republicans When It Comes to School Choice Legislation?

Commentary This has been the year for school choice all over the country. At least six additional states joined Arizona and Florida to give parents the funds to send their children to private and charter schools. Surprisingly, deep-red Texas is not among these states—at least not yet. Currently, there is no school choice in the…


Second Michigan School District Bans Backpacks After Gun Found

Grand Rapids Public Schools banned backpacks on Wednesday after a loaded gun was found inside a student’s backpack for the fourth time, according to a press release. The gun was confiscated from a third-grade student’s backpack, and district leaders took the decision afterward. The latest confiscations involved elementary school students and in three of the…


Texas Lawmakers Pass Historic Bill Allowing Chaplains in Public Schools

The Texas Legislature passed a history-making bill allowing chaplains to be employed or volunteer at public schools “to provide support, services, and programs for students.” Senate Bill 763 passed in the Texas House along party lines on May 9. Now, it’s poised to become law. The bill is the first of its kind in the nation,…


Why Did They Kill the Things They Love?

Commentary There are several features of the pandemic policy response that still astonish me. It does not surprise me that bureaucrats couldn’t suppress, control, much less eradicate, a respiratory virus by scrapping the Bill of Rights. What I cannot get over is all the ways that the response ended up achieving the opposite of what…


Canadian Parents Increasingly Choosing Independent Schools for Their Kids: Study

Parents across Canada are increasingly choosing independent schools over government schools for their children, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute. Released on April 26, the study says the share of K-12 students enrolled at independent schools across the country increased in every province over a 19-year span, while the share of those…


Leaving California: Residents Say Out-of-Touch Politicians Have Ruined Their State

Commentary In the EpochTV original “Leaving California: The Untold Story,” Siyamak Khorrami takes viewers on a harrowing journey from what was once considered a place of opportunity to what is now, for many, a place of hardship. Khorrami, host of California Insider and editor of The Epoch Times Southern California edition, was born and raised…