Category Archives: School Choice

If the Denver Post can take a glimpse, so can I. Not that I am excited by the prospect of taking a glimpse at a school full of icky girls. But here goes anyway…. About 120 sixth- and seventh-grade girls who enrolled in the Girls Athletic Leadership School now inhabit the third floor of Calvary Temple, near Cherry Creek mall. G.A.L.S. is the only single-gender public school in Colorado, aimed at empowering girls and providing them opportunities denied in a co-ed setting. Interesting factoid about the Girls Athletic Leadership School. What a clever acronym, too. Maybe it’s time for an all-boys charter school. Let’s call it the Gents United Youth School (G.U.Y.S.). I’m all about equity and balance, you know. Anyone with me on starting G.U.Y.S.?

There a couple new education-related publications out there that shed some light on current debates. When it comes to K-12 education, public opinion, policies and results are interconnected, though the relationship often is not so apparent. If we want to help improve and maximize student learning, it’s good to be informed on all fronts. First, Education Next recently released the results of its 2010 annual survey. The bottom line? With the exceptions of school spending and teacher tenure, the divisions between ordinary Democrats and Republicans on education policy matters are quite minor. To be sure, disagreements among Americans continue to linger. Indeed, with the exception of student and school accountability measures, Americans as a whole do not stand steadfastly behind any single reform proposal. Yet the most salient divisions appear to be within, not between, the political parties. And we find growing support for several strategies put forward in recent years by leaders of both political parties—most notably online education and merit pay.

I learned some good news today: While Colorado K-12 public schools expect to receive $160 million in Edujobs money to save more jobs than were lost and to preserve the status quo, some good news arrived: Colorado also will receive a 3-year, $40.8 million federal grant to help innovative charter schools with start-up expenses. Denise at Colorado Charters has posted the official CDE press release. While certainly some of the new schools I’ve highlighted will be eligible for funding, there’s another new school featured today in the Fort Collins Coloradoan:

It’s been too long since I’ve taken a glimpse at a new Colorado school. But as the school year fast approaches for most students around the state, it’s definitely time to get back on track. For the preschool-through-5th grade students at SkyView Academy in Highlands Ranch, a south Denver suburb, the inaugural school year doesn’t start until after Labor Day. That’s because the new school building is in the final stages of construction and is slated for a grand opening on August 26. The school’s mission statement explains what it’s all about: SkyView Academy offers a research-based, content-rich liberal arts program with a commitment to foreign language studies and community service.

I’m getting caught up once again on the news today. And yes, I have to say it, Washington D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee has done my heart good again — she who has helped to inspire my radical education reform side. She remains serious about getting the job done, and even the big Time Magazine cover story a year and a half ago hasn’t slowed her down (I guess they don’t have curses like Sports Illustrated does.) Anyway, given one of the toughest job assignments out there, Rhee continues to do great things. Two examples have graced the news pages recently: The Washington Times reported that Rhee is backing vouchers for special-needs D.C. students in the style of Florida’s successful McKay Scholarship program. Matt Ladner explains how such a program would save the school district money while increasing parental satisfaction and improving programs through competition. Congress pulled funding from the voucher program for D.C.’s poor students, but Rhee isn’t letting that be an excuse to give up on school choice. Then, just a couple days later, the Washington Post reported that Rhee used her upgraded IMPACT evaluation system and newly negotiated powers to remove 165 ineffective teachers from the classroom […]

It’s Friday, and I don’t want to delve into the depths of education policy today. Instead, I’m recommending an interesting Education Next thought piece by Harvard professor Dr. Paul Peterson, a champion of school choice and education reform. Peterson muses that a Republican takeover of Congress this November just might save Obama’s presidency… by saving his education reform program: Will a Republican majority in the House, coupled with a conservative majority in the Senate, throw the president a lifeline? As the presidential election heats up, many Republicans will urge relentless opposition to everything, even if it fits the education reform agenda. But that backward-looking strategy will only give substance to inevitable Democratic charges that Republicans are negative nabobs of Know Nothing. If the president proposes something school reformers like, Republicans will have to sign on. It’s an interesting argument. Feel free to chime in. Judging by the way my mom and dad yell at the TV a lot during the political news programs, I’m guessing there isn’t a whole lot that President Obama and Republicans agree on generally. If school choice and education reform is that one thing, then here’s to making some important progress in that area. Because it […]

It’s the middle of July. It’s hot outside. If they’re not swimming in the pool, people are more interested in political scandals than education stories. That’s too bad. Whether we realize it or not, I’m beginning to believe I am lucky enough to be coming of age during a truly transformational time in public schooling and education reform. I mean now. On that note, here are a couple of items I stumbled across today that may not seem to go together. Maybe it’s kind of a hodgepodge, but so what? First, in the Wall Street Journal (H/T Matt Ladner), John Fund’s Political Diary highlights a speech made by mega-billionaire Bill Gates right here in Colorado at the Aspen Ideas Festival:

As I write this, I’m listening to the Mike Rosen Show on AM 850 KOA Denver as he interviews director Madeleine Sackler about her newly released edu-documentary The Lottery. A month ago my Education Policy Center friends attended a special screening of this film. The Lottery is back in Denver this week, and you can watch it at the Starz Film Center at the Tivoli.

It’s almost too obvious to say, but worth repeating to those who don’t want to listen: Not all public charter schools are good. But nearly all are offering families a viable education alternative, and many are outperforming their traditional counterparts — some by a significant amount. Like KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program). A new study conducted for KIPP by Mathematica shows exactly that. KIPP charter schools are making a positive impact on the primarily poor and minority student populations they serve. The examination of academic progress at 22 KIPP middle schools yielded some glowing results, including: Nearly all 22 schools have significant positive effects on student math performance over three years, mostly in the second and third year Most schools have significant positive effects on student reading performance over the second and third years, not as many in the first year “Estimated impacts are frequently large enough to substantially reduce race- and income-based achievement gaps within three years of entering KIPP.” Most KIPP schools have more students held back a grade (largely because they don’t practice social promotion) but have no higher levels of student attrition than their public school counterparts Perhaps most interesting of all is the way this […]

From time to time, it’s worthwhile to look outside the borders of our United States to glean some valuable lessons about school reform. Rick Hess — one of the more thoughtful education policy gurus out there — recently returned from a two-week trip to Georgia and shared his thoughts. So some of you are thinking… Georgia? A different country? Maybe like 150 years ago or something. Wrong Georgia. We’re talking halfway around the world, not just across the continent. Anyway, Hess notes the heavy emphasis on reform in the former Soviet republic in what he calls the “land of the libertarians”: