California Bus Association
The Antiplanner spent the last couple of days at the annual meeting of the California Bus Association, which left me unable to post as I was too cheap to pay the hotel $9.95 per day for Internet access even though the nice people at the Bus Association would probably have covered the cost. In any […]
Comprehensive National Study Deflates Knee-Jerk Anti-Charter Mythology
Some national critics have made a living off distorting the findings of a major national study on public charter schools. Knee-jerk reactions against charter schools lead some to use part of the findings that seem to support their conclusion and make sweeping generalizations. But a new comprehensive study for the Center on Reinventing Public Education reminds us that the big picture is more nuanced (and positive) than some critics would like you to believe. (May 2009 photo from Denver’s KIPP-Sunshine Peak Academy charter school.)
State Legislators: Just Say No to Obamacare ‘Exchanges’
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has approved a Resolution Against PPACA Health Insurance Exchanges advocating the state legislators refrain from planning or establishing an ObamaCare health insurance “exchange.” Continue reading
Weatherization: Bring in Sealant Team 6
This is a hilarious take on the “green economy” from Jon Stewart.
Hurrah for Well-Informed Parents and New Denver Public Schools Enrollment Process
Once upon a time I pointed readers to an interesting and thought-provoking article by education guru Rick Hess, titled “Does School Choice Work?” A couple of points Hess made in the article can stand to be repeated. First:
The biggest mistake pro-market school reformers have made can thus be put simply: They have mistaken choice for […]
Colorado Online Education: Fix the System
An investigative report and a requested legislative audit have shined a negative light on K-12 online education in Colorado. Michael Horn, executive director of education at the Innosight Institute, makes the case that students will benefit far more from updated funding, accountability and teacher policies than from an additional regulatory burden. Colorado can learn from recent changes made in Utah and from the new Nation’s Digital Learning Report Card that promote blended and full-time online learning options.
Mass. health costs still soar, NY Times spreads fallacy about fee-for-service health care
The fundamental problem in health care is not that we are using too much of one payment mechanism (e.g. fee-for-service) and too little of another. The problem is that the person who benefits from the service is not the same as the person who pays the bill. Continue reading
Bad news for EU could be bad news for CO
Bad news for residents of the European Union and possibly Colorado. EU consumers and businesses face more than twenty years of rising electric costs as the region tries to meet its renewable energy goals according to a leaked report. The the working title of the draft report “Energy Roadmap to 2050” examines how the EU […]
Solar Power: economically and environmentally unsound
This column appeared originally in Townhall Finance. Solar energy is neither economically nor environmentally sound By Amy Oliver Cooke and Michael Sandoval We live in the state that is ground zero for absurd energy policy, also known as the New Energy Economy. In a recent Denver Post house editorial, Colorado’s self-described “newspaper of record” was […]
Ex-High-Ranking Philly Career Public Educator Vouches for School Choice
A Friday quick hit from Pennsylvania… It is noteworthy to see a career public educator, recently retired as superintendent of one of the nation’s largest school districts, go public in her support for expanded school choice not only through charter schools, but vouchers as well. I’m talking about former Philadelphia superintendent Arlene Ackerman, whose new […]
Yet another “progressive” argument for an unlimited Commerce Power doesn’t add up
As I’ve pointed out before in this column, there is a sort of cottage industry among “progressive” law professors that involves taking snatches of the Founding-Era record—or imagined snatches—to argue that the current overgrown federal government is really constitutional after all. In past posts, I’ve reported on a misinterpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause […]
850 KOA's Mike Rosen Cites Center Research Data to Make Case against Prop 103
Writing in his weekly Denver Post column, leading local conservative commentator Mike Rosen cited research tabulated by the Education Policy Center’s senior policy analyst to show the large-scale changes in Colorado K-12 funding over the last decade: Complaints that public education spending in Colorado has been slashed in recent years conveniently ignore the big picture. […]
