by David Safier Today's Fool's Gold edition isn't about the iron pyrite the Goldwater Institute usually tries to pass off as the real thing — ore that glitters like gold but is actually worthless. This is so blatant, it borders on the comical. Matthew Ladner has taken a garden variety stone and glued on a … Read more
by David Safier No need to write about the jaw dropping specifics of public school budget cuts here. You can read 'em and weep elsewhere. Here are two other bits from today's Star. TUSD's Supe, Elizabeth Celania-Fagen, is leaving. The reason she cites in her letter: "as the state budget reductions to education in Arizona … Read more
by David Safier The Goldwater Institute's lead litigator, Clint Bolick, wrote a book, "Voucher wars: waging the legal battle over school choice," published by the Cato Institute. In the introduction, Bolick calls the forces who are pushing for school vouchers part of a "freedom movement": It is a freedom movement because it involves challenging one … Read more
by David Safier Here's an illuminating study out of the University of Arkansas. The authors studied students in Milwaukee's 20 year old voucher program. The conclusion: Voucher students “scored at similar levels as their peers not participating in the school choice program.” Who are the lefties behind this obviously slanted study? One is Jay Greene, … Read more
by David Safier The Goldwater Institute's Matthew Ladner has written lately about the gains students in traditional public schools made on their NAEP scores. (The NAEP is considered the gold standard of national standardized tests.) He acknowledges, when traditional public schools are run well, they get results. Of course, he's not talking about Arizona schools. … Read more