Articles
-
Education
Underpaid? Join the Club
The bottom line: Most Oklahomans receive lower pay than their counterparts in other states. Few of our occupations are near the top in the 50-state rankings. We simply cannot afford to compensate teachers like, say, Connecticut.Brandon Dutcher & J. Scott Moody | June 1, 2015
-
Education
Combating a culture of ‘disengagement and compulsory learning’
In an interesting and insightful blog post, Rob Miller, longtime principal at Jenks Middle School, recently reflected on “all the parallels between being an airline passenger and daily life as a student in a typical middle or high school classroom in America today.”Brandon Dutcher | May 27, 2015
-
Education
Education savings accounts will put parents in charge
It’s clear that ESAs will enable more Oklahoma parents to afford the best educational options for their children.Brandon Dutcher | May 22, 2015
-
Education
Oklahoma could learn from Minnesota's decentralized, choice-based preschool program
Who should benefit from government-funded preschool? That is the question posed by the American Enterprise Institute in response to Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton's plan to introduce universal pre-K to the Minnesota public school system.Jennifer Doverspike | May 18, 2015
-
Education
The Heart of the Reform Agenda: School Choice
School choice is decentralization in action. The history of education in America from Horace Mann to the very recent past is one of decentralized creation and then forced centralization, first by state government, and later by the Feds. The trend is now in the other direction. Charter schools, private schools, and even more so, homeschooling, are distributions of power from the center.Jason Reese | May 12, 2015
-
Education
School Choice Myths in Oklahoma
What we still don’t know about education is a big deal. But our bigger problem is what we think we know that isn’t so.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | April 29, 2015
-
Education
Demographic Changes Coming to Oklahoma
Oklahoma has enacted some substantial K-12 reforms in recent years, including parental choice programs and A-F school letter grading. District interests, however, have pushed back fiercely in a variety of ways.Matthew Ladner | April 22, 2015
-
Education
Oklahoma’s Demographic Trends Point Up the Need for Education-Delivery Modernization
“How hard should Oklahoma hold on to the K-12 status-quo, and where is it taking the state?” Dr. Matthew Ladner asks in this month’s issue of Perspective.Brandon Dutcher | April 22, 2015
-
Education
School Choice and Freedom of Conscience
Ultimately, the school choice debate is inexorably linked with the right to freedom of conscience and for parents to direct the upbringing of their own children.Trent England | April 10, 2015
-
Education
Oklahomans want school choices
A recent SoonerPoll survey of likely Oklahoma voters discovered that voters favor educational choice policies — including charter schools, vouchers, tax credits, and education savings accounts.Brandon Dutcher | April 8, 2015