Beyond DeVos

By RiShawn Biddle
02/27/2017
Editor’s Note: The confirmation of Betsy DeVos was not supported by everyone committed to improving public education, and in particular, not even to everyone committed to breaking the grip of the teachers union on public education. Rishawn Biddle is someone who vehemently opposed DeVos, but is equally vehement in his condemnation of the corruption and...

TAGS: Betsy DeVos, education reform

Secretary of Education Nominee Betsy Devos – One Reformer’s Perspective

By RiShawn Biddle
12/19/2016
There has been plenty of discussion about U.S. Secretary of Education Nominee Betsy DeVos in the weeks since your editor wrote a series of commentaries about why reformers shouldn’t support her, much less anyone in the incoming Trump Administration. The resulting discussion and sparring among reformers over DeVos exemplifies the splits that have been developing...

TAGS: education reform

The Hypocrisy of Public Sector Unions

By Edward Ring
03/15/2016
During the industrial age, labor unions played a vital role in protecting the rights of workers. Skeptics may argue that enlightened management played an equally if not greater role, such as when Henry Ford famously raised the wages of his workers so they could afford to buy the cars they made, but few would argue...

TAGS: education reform, financialization, government unions, pension reform, Public sector pensions, public sector unions, public unions, Vergara case

Progressivism, Unionization and Political Correctness Are Destroying Public Education

By R. Claire Friend
01/28/2016
Even a brief glance at the 1908 7th and 8th grade reading lists or the 1895 Salina, Kansas 8th grade exit exam graphically illustrates the profound decline in public education produced as a consequence of the progressives who dominate our academic institutions and federal government. Less obvious is the threat this presents to the future of the American Republic....

TAGS: education reform

Lessons for Reformers from Governor Scott Walker

By RiShawn Biddle
09/25/2015
Certainly there are scores of Beltway conservative reformers (and movement conservatives disinterested in education policy) who are dismayed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s decision yesterday to halt his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. After all, the onetime state legislator and former Milwaukee County Executive-turned-governor has been highly-touted by them for his success in abolishing...

TAGS: education reform, Governor Scott Walker, public sector union reform

How Government Unions Are Destroying America

By Edward Ring
09/22/2015
Not one presidential candidate, apart from Gov. Walker’s last-ditch rhetoric prior to dropping out, has discussed the problems with unionized government as a major issue. That’s too bad, because these problems are bigger than even most critics acknowledge. When people discuss the need to reform, if not eliminate, public sector unions, the only reason typically...

TAGS: education reform, government unions, public sector unions

Palm Lane Reform Activists Win Court Ruling – District Immediately Appeals

By R. Claire Friend
07/28/2015
The yearlong battle with the Anaheim City School District and Anaheim City Board of Education has ended. The parents of the 733 students enrolled at Palm Lane Elementary School have finally been granted the right to restart their decade-long failing school as an independent charter school. Judge Andrew P. Banks, Orange County Superior Court, issued...

TAGS: education reform, Palm Lane Elementary School, Parent trigger laws

Exposing Teachers Union Front Groups Against Minority Kids

By RiShawn Biddle
07/08/2015
Hope remains eternal — at least among those who want Congress to pass a reauthorized version of the No Child Left Behind Act being considered by the Senate this week. Even as the likelihood of passage remains as unlikely as it was back in March, when House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline’s...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Dropout Nation, education reform, National Education Association, No Child Left Behind

A Challenge to Moorlach and Glazer – Build A Radical Center

By Edward Ring
06/02/2015
On March 22, 2015, John Moorlach was officially sworn in as state senator for California’s 37th District. On May 28, 2015, Steve Glazer took the oath of office as state senator for the 7th District. Moorlach is a Republican serving mostly conservative constituents in Orange County. Steve Glazer is a Democrat serving mostly liberal constituents in Contra Costa County....

TAGS: education reform, government unions, John Moorlach, pension reform, Steve Glazer