Big Week for School Choice in Arizona: Education Savings Accounts for Colorado?
Matthew Ladner is right when he says: “This has been quite the week for parental choice in Arizona.” Of course, as my GoBash blogging friend noted, on Monday a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upheld the state’s private school tax credit program — an important precedent. But Ladner’s statement comes from a posting primarily about […]
Don’t Trust Studies Written by Wind Energy Lobbyists
Colorado is home to 5,000 wind energy jobs, according to a new, totally unbiased report from the American Wind Energy Association, this country’s premier wind energy lobby. Of course, the study is bogus. I wish I could tell you how the books were cooked. Unfortunately, I can’t read the report, because the AWEA put it […]
Health Care and the Separation of Charity and State
“If a patient needs a $50,000 operation but cannot afford it, he has the right to ask his friends, family, neighbors, or strangers for monetary assistance—& they have the right to offer it (or not). But the patient has no right to take people’s money without their permission; to do so would be to violate their rights.” – Paul Hsieh, M.D.
Denver Post Highlights Growing Trend of Parents Exercising Public School Choice
Update, 4/8: Denise at Colorado Charters offers more specific reasons why so many Denver families are exercising public school choice.
Interesting news today from the Denver Post today under the headline “53 percent of DPS students opt out of assigned campuses.” Colorado has one of the nation’s very best, parent-friendly open enrollment laws — in effect […]
Paul Ryan’s Budget: A Huge Opportunity to Improve Health Care
Rep. Paul Ryan’s “budget blueprint that tackles the three big health care challenges facing the federal budget — ObamaCare, Medicare and Medicaid – with a strategy of repeal, vouchers and block grants. Done properly, those steps would simultaneously improve health care and help balance the budget within a decade.”
BLM’s Investment in Dishonesty
The Bureau of Land Management has always labored in the shadow of its sister agency, the National Park Service, and its cousin, the Forest Service. While the national parks are America’s “crown jewels” and the Forest Service represents the best (and worst) of the Progressive era, the BLM manages the federal lands left over after […]
As Digital Learning Opportunities Expand, Program Quality Should Follow, Too
Digital learning. It’s a big educational wave of the future… and of the present. The use of online technology in formal learning can take on so many forms that it’s difficult to imagine all the possibilities of what it could look like. As digital learning opportunities began to expand, we want to keep the focus […]
Jeffco Expands Student Online Learning Opportunities
Judy Bauernschmidt, director of student online learning for Jefferson County Public Schools, discusses the various programs offered by Colorado’s largest school district to expand access to online education. Jeffco students can take anywhere from one to all of their courses online, while more teachers are becoming equipped to provide classes in a hybrid or blended learning format that helps to meet student needs and save the district money by allocating taxpayer funds more effectively.
Control of the state courts—the latest federal takeover target?
[T]his bill . . . is an attack on state courts and on the civil jury system itself.
Why States Are Shying Away From ObamaCare’s Health Insurance Exchanges
State legislators who oppose [ObamaCare] might nonetheless be tempted to try building and running the exchanges themselves. But there are a number of reasons why governors in that position might want to sit out the implementation process.
The Ratings Game
Lots of groups have been blamed for the recent financial crisis, including the Federal Reserve, banks, and Congress for deregulating financial institutions by repealing the Glass-Steagall Act (which separated banks that accepted deposits from investment banks). One that deserves scrutiny is the ratings agencies–Moody’s, Standard & Poors, and Fitch–that gave AAA ratings to bonds made […]
Education Next’s One-Two Punch for Effective Teaching, Productive Spending
The good experts at Education Next have come forward with a potent one-two punch on teacher quality with a relevant message for Colorado policy makers, particularly in a time when tightened budgets weigh heavy on some minds. Are they listening? ….
Part of the short-term solution to the K-12 budget situation is cutting unproductive spending in […]
