Could Crowded Brighton Schools (More Comfortably) Think Outside the Box?
A Denver Post Your Hub story from last week by Joey Kirchmer chronicles some growing pains in Brighton School District:
Brighton High School and Prairie View High School are at or over capacity this school year, which has forced administrators to turn to outdoor modular classrooms, roaming teachers and possibly start looking at a split-schedule system.
Around […]
The European Transport Myth
An article in Transport Reviews compares U.S. and European transit usage and argues that Europeans use transit more because they have better transit service, low fares, multi-modal integration, high taxes and restrictions on driving, and land-use policies that promote compact, mixed-use developments–all things that American planners want to do here. One obvious problem with the […]
Citizen Link Includes Comment on Growing Democratic Support for School Reform
In a 45-second nationally syndicated audio news clip for Citizen Link, senior policy analyst Ben DeGrow offered his insights on Democrats’ views regarding education reform and the declining power of teachers unions. “In some elements of the Democratic Party, especially in urban areas, there is definitely an awakening to the need of school choice,” DeGrow […]
Where Exactly Can Denver Public Schools Save Money in Its Budget?
Last week my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow came out with a short, fun, and kid-friendly paper called “Colorado K-12 Tax Hikes Challenged.” The paper looked at five large school districts asking voters for more tax funds on this fall’s ballot: Jefferson County, Denver, Cherry Creek, Aurora, and St. Vrain Valley.
DeGrow acknowledged that these […]
AFT’s Randi Weingarten Steps Forward as Face of Opposition to Bold Dougco Reforms
Lucky Colorado. Yesterday the president of the nation’s second-largest teachers union paid a visit. Ed News Colorado reports that while AFT’s Randi Weingarten stopped in to tout an innovative school nutrition program at Denver’s Cole Arts and Science Academy, she also used her big political stick to bash the Douglas County school board:
“This is what’s […]
Get Ready For Obamacare’s Medical Rationing
ObamaCare supporters are now waging a high-profile public relations campaign to make medical rationing palatable to the general public. Continue reading
Streetcar Woes
Portland opened its new east side streetcar line a couple of weeks ago, but the real story is in the Lake Oswego plant that is supposed to be making streetcars to run on the new line. In 2011, the company, United Streetcar, announced that its first streetcars would be several months late and it would […]
Won’t Back Down: New Movie Pushes School Reform into Mainstream
Education News Colorado editor Julie Poppen discusses the release of the new Hollywood feature film Won’t Back Down, particularly how it addresses parent power and pushes growing education reform themes and issues into the mainstream.
Want to Improve K-12 Productivity? Avoid Baumol’s Disease Like Plague
It’s not uncommon for me to tell you about the great need for public schools to spend dollars more productively. A recent brief, colorful paper written by my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow makes the point with some great local significance for school districts asking voters for tax increases this fall.
But, you may ask, […]
Louisiana Amendment to Strengthen Right to Arms on November Ballot
Originally published on Volokh.com In state elections, the most important vote this November will be in Louisiana. A referendum there would significantly strengthen protection of the right to keep and bear arms in the state, and would set a very significant national precedent. Before the Civil War, the Louisiana Constitution did not mention a right to […]
Government Control of Medicine Necessitates Rationing
“When government provides “free” (or subsidized) health services, politicians and bureaucrats necessarily decide how that spending will be allocated.” Continue reading
How Does Amtrak Determine Fares?
A transit advocate who calls himself Captain Transit asks, “How can Amtrak charge so much for the Northeast Corridor?” His answer, which he claims to have arrived at with the Antiplanner’s assistance, is that buses carry the low-income passengers in this corridor, so Amtrak can get away with charging first-class rates for high-end passengers. That’s […]
