Articles
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Education
Oklahomans Travel to Pennsylvania to Explore School Choice
A group of Oklahomans interested in exploring expansive examples of school choice traveled to Philadelphia November 16 and 17. They visited Spruce Hill Christian School, talked with legislators like black Democrat state Sen. Anthony Williams of Philadelphia, and participated in long exchanges with people who have made inner-city education reform a reality.Patrick B. McGuigan | January 1, 2010
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Education
Three Reasons Oklahoma Needs School Choice
In a recent article, I offered a modest proposal to enhance school choice in Oklahoma. I proposed that Oklahoma start funding a $3,000 tuition scholarship for every K-12 student who enrolls in an accredited Oklahoma private school. Such a proposal, I argued, would provide parents with more freedom, more flexibility, and more choices in finding the school that best fits their children's needs.Mickey Hepner | December 7, 2009
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Budget & Tax, Education
Why Are Taxpayers Funding the Retirement of OEA Employees?
The Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) is the most powerful labor union in Oklahoma. Their representatives, including lobbyists who roam the halls of the state capitol building, often are schoolteachers who have left the classroom in order to become OEA employees.Steve Anderson | October 5, 2009
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Education
Leading Analysts Back School Choice for Special Needs, Early Childhood
In recent months, Oklahoma has become a hotbed for substantive discussion of educational policy.Patrick B. McGuigan | September 1, 2009
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Education
Schools in the Slums
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.James Tooley | August 3, 2009
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Education
Entrepreneurial Spirit and a Mother's Love
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.Patrick B. McGuigan | August 3, 2009
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Education
Adrift in the Slow Lane of Learning
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.George Leef | June 1, 2009
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Education
Oklahoma Charter Schools Prevail
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.Patrick B. McGuigan | June 1, 2009
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Education
How High Is Teacher Pay in Oklahoma?
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.Neal McCluskey | June 1, 2009
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Education
The Ivory Tower: Crumbling From Within?
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.Jane S. Shaw | June 1, 2009