GOOD News: Douglas County Adopts Groundbreaking Pilot Voucher Program
What a week for parental choice and school reform in Colorado. As reported at Ed Is Watching, the Board of Education for Colorado’s third largest school district voted unanimously on Tuesday, March 15, to enact a first-of-its-kind Choice Scholars…
How Medicaid Harms the Poor
“Despite the fact that the [researchers] controlled for age, gender, income, geographic region, operation, and 30 comorbid conditions, Medicaid fared poorly compared to those with private insurance, Medicare, and even the uninsured.”
Douglas County School Board Enacts Pilot Voucher Program
On March 15, 2011, the Douglas County Board of Education made history by voting 7-0 to enact a local pilot “choice scholarship” program. The Education Policy Center’s Pam Benigno and Ben DeGrow, who both served on Douglas County’s School Choice Task Force, discuss the significance of Colorado’s third-largest school district approving vouchers, as well as key program details concerning student eligibility, private school requirements, and funding.
Florida, Gov. Rick Scott Close to Raising Bar on Teacher Tenure, Evaluation Reform
You may have missed it because you were recovering from the New Year’s holiday, but I told you a couple months ago how Florida’s new governor Rick Scott was considering some pretty bold education reforms. The first two points of consideration I listed were:
Following Colorado’s lead by tying a significant portion of teacher evaluations to […]
Governors Implementing ObamaCare Are Undermining the Lawsuits
It would have been better if [Federal Judge] Vinson had stuck to his original order blocking implementation [of ObamaCare]. Yet he made clear that one of the reasons he did not is that many of the states asking him to strike down the law are implementing it anyway.
Antiplanner’s Library: Triumph of the Cities
The ideas of many urbanologists are heavily influenced by the cities in which they lived or grew up. To defend her mid-rise Greenwich Village neighborhood from “urban renewal,” Jane Jacobs extolled the virtues of such neighborhoods and excoriated both high-rises and suburbs. Many urban planners today, fresh out of college, remember the lively streets of […]
Douglas County School Board Enacts Voucher Pilot Program, Makes History
You may have already heard about the recent BIG news from Douglas County: The Board of Education voted to adopt (quite possibly) the nation’s very first ever school board-initiated private school choice scholarship program. And the vote was unanimous! Learn more by reading the Education Policy Center’s press release and other key links as we celebrate this milestone development.
Lawmakers Push Sneaky Green Tax
Thanks to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, Coloradans have the final say on taxes…unless Sen. Gail Schwartz and Rep. Brian DelGrosso get their way. They are the lead sponsors of HB 1255, legislation that would impose a sneaky tax to benefit green energy production. I say “sneaky,” because it circumvents TABOR with a budgeting trick, […]
Reallocating Florida’s HSR Grant
When Ohio and Wisconsin elected governors who promised to cancel those states’ high-speed rail projects, Secretary of Immobility Ray LaHood redistributed the federal grants to those projects to other states (including $342 million to Florida) before the new governors even took office. Now that Florida has also cancelled its high-speed rail project, LaHood is being […]
Sad and Shameful: Colo. House Education Committee Kills “Parent Trigger” Bill
Yesterday was a BAD day to behold in Colorado’s House Education Committee. The committee voted to kill House Bill 1270, a piece of legislation that would have introduced the “parent trigger” concept to Colorado. HB 1270 would have emp…
Gross Dereliction of Duty at the PUC
Under Colorado’s green energy production quota, also known as a Renewable Electricity Standard, the cost of acquiring renewable energy like wind and solar power is limited to 2 percent of annual electricity sales. The rules are very clear on this matter. According to the Public Utilities Commission’s Rule 3661(h)iv, “to the extent the RES plan […]
Getting Over the Past, Looking to the (School Choice and Innovation) Future
Today I’m trying not to think about the past and focusing instead on the future. By the past, I’m referring to yesterday’s vote in Colorado’s House Education Committee that killed the “Parent Trigger” bill (aka HB 1270). This blogger Victor from the Education Action Group says the “education establishment won their fight.” Disappointed only begins […]
