Articles

In the life of a reporter, you hear lots of stories. Many, even some good ones, never work their way into print. This one did. Among other things, it is a story about choices.

Policy discussions on education spending usually revolve around the assumption that more spending equals better educational outcomes and greater economic growth. Unfortunately, this is a very simplistic way to look at a complex public policy issue.

There has been a great deal of concern about what is called "civic illiteracy," the fact that not only students but even adults don't know the most basic principles of our government. Various groups, such as the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, have conducted surveys which indicate that, even in some of the best colleges and universities, students know less about the Constitution and about American history when they graduate than when they entered. Even those who score best seldom make above a 50 on a multiple-choice test.

The new school year is upon us, and it's time for a word in appreciation of teachers.

Oklahoma's 4th grade reading NAEP scores have dropped and stagnated compared to the national average, and changes in poverty levels and per-capita income can't explain why we don't see improvement from the state's model investment in preschool.

Oklahoma taxpayers are getting public school results at elite prep school prices, yet the union demands more money-even if it means raising your taxes. Audacity, anyone?

On June 26 USA Today reported on the findings of a preschool study which concludes that Oklahoma’s government-run preschool gives a boost to the performance of all students in the short-term. This is news because the collective conclusions of previous studies overwhelmingly suggest that preschool boosts at-risk children in the short-term, but not children from middle- and upper-income families.

A tax credit for donations to scholarship programs geared to autistic children, however, might be close to a free lunch for the reasons described. Though it's no panacea, it is a simple and elegant solution that would help a large number of families.

Another state legislative session has come and gone, and again this year the education establishment was able to squash legislation which would have given parents more school choices.

In his effort to expand non-parental child care, Gov. Henry is citing the available research on the subject quite selectively. By promoting surrogate parenting for three-year-olds while disregarding the research exposing its risks, Henry and his allies are doing the children no favors.