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It's the story of children, parents, teachers, and entrepreneurs in the poorest corners of the globe who, in response to failed public education, are not waiting for handouts. They are educating themselves-and succeeding under the most challenging conditions imaginable.

Four decades of involvement in education -- as a volunteer, writer, and sometime teacher -- have blessed me with riches that cannot be measured in normal ways.

For many college students, their years of "higher education" don't involve much education at all. Sure, they take a lot of courses and usually pass with As and Bs, but that is no guarantee that they have learned much. Between the inflation of grades and the watering down of the curriculum, students can get degrees without much intellectual effort.

The struggle for quality education in Oklahoma, particularly in terms of consumer choice and empowerment, is rarely marked by dramatic moments. Most forward movement toward better schooling comes in small increments.

When it comes to teacher pay in Oklahoma, here's a familiar refrain: Oklahoma has one of the lowest average salary levels for public school teachers in the nation, and we need to pay more to compete for the best.

Sandefer says he understands that the ivory towers of academia are built to withstand attacks from the outside. But he believes that continued bureaucratic rot from within, combined with innovation and disaggregation from the outside, may finally bring them down. The victors, he says, will be students, parents, and taxpayers.

When it comes to teacher pay in Oklahoma, here's a familiar refrain: Oklahoma has one of the lowest average salary levels for public school teachers in the nation, and we need to pay more to compete for the best.

Thomas E. Woods reminds us today that the free-market economy has not failed (contrary to what some unionized Oklahoma schoolteachers would have you believe).

Nearly every state in the country, including Oklahoma, administers achievement tests to public school students in the K-12 years to determine, among other things, who is proficient (at or above grade level) in reading and mathematics skills.

It’s time to use proper accounting to figure Oklahoma’s per-pupil expenditures. Here’s a step-by-step guide for policymakers.