Archive for the ‘Elected Officials’ Category

GOOD news! There are now 20 private school choice programs. Special needs children in Louisiana will have more educational choice! Read the news release from our friends at the American Federation for Children:
Children Win as Louisiana Enacts Special Needs Scholarship Program

Washington, D.C. (June 25, 2010) - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal this week signed into law the [...]

There is some very GOOD education reform news to report from our neighbors in Oklahoma this week. Governor Brad Henry signed into law a new program to provide scholarship assistance for special-needs students to attend the private or public school of their parents’ choosing.
The Foundation for Educational Choice proudly reported the news:

The Lindsey Nicole Henry [...]

For students to achieve the best outcomes, they need teachers and principals to be as effective as they can be. To make that happen, we first need a clear and fair way to know which teachers are effective. We need to do more to invest both teachers AND principals in student academic success. And we [...]

On consecutive days this week at the State Capitol, Colorado lawmakers once again killed two private school choice bills. HB 1295 and HB 1296 would have provided tax credits so families could choose a non-public school.
Even the fact that both bills would have saved public schools money on a per-pupil basis during these hard [...]

When it comes to public performance audits, there’s a difference between good governance and oversight on one hand, and a far-reaching fishing expedition on the other. The latter SHAMEFUL act is what a handful of Democrat state legislators (Rep. Mike Merrifield, Rep. Judy Solano, Sen. Bob Bacon, Sen. Evie Hudak) put into motion last month. [...]

June 30, 2009 was a GOOD day for thousands of Indiana children in the home state of the Friedman Foundation and the GEO Foundation, two long-time school choice advocates. Governor Mitch Daniels signed into law a 2.5 million corporate and individual scholarship tax credit program.  The program gives companies and individuals a 50 percent tax credit in return for their donation [...]

Good picks by a Republican leader!  Colorado Senate News has reported that Republican Senate leader Josh Penry will appoint a Democrat to the Interim Committee to Study Financing of Public Schools. The Democrat is education reformer Michael Johnston, who was selected by a committee to fill the vacancy left by the departure of Senator Peter [...]

Once again, charter schools survived Colorado’s legislative session. There are many legislators from both political parties that deserve to be praised for their support of charter schools. However, Sean Bradley, the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Colorado League of Charter Schools, deserves a loud “shout out” from all those who support charter schools. He [...]

Today, two public schools received waivers from 40 state statutes, 32 district policies, and 18 collective bargaining agreement provisions.  The Colorado State Board of Education unanimously voted in favor of granting waivers to two Denver Public Schools, Manual High School and Montclair School of Academics and Enrichment. 
 
The schools are the first “Innovation Schools” under a law [...]

Yesterday the Joint Budget Committee cut the printing of next year’s School Accountability Reports (SAR). Also, a bill going through the legislature that will make major changes to Colorado’s accountability system does not include printing of the new reports. Not sending home a SAR (aka school report card) keeps parents in the dark about a school’s student performance. [...]