Uneducating America: Student Test Scores on U.S. History and Civics Hit All-Time Lows

By Larry Sand
06/02/2023
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, is a test that measures the knowledge of American students in various areas. The results of the NAEP test in U.S. history and civics, taken in 2022, were released last month. They paint a grim picture: according to the data,...

TAGS: California public education, california public schools, education, NAEP, standardized testing

The kids most definitely are not all right

By Larry Sand
10/26/2021
The latest NAEP scores indicate a very troubled education system, and eliminating standardized tests certainly won’t solve the problem. On the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or “nation’s report card,” test scores in both reading and math declined for 13-year-old students, the first drop registered in 50 years. The test showed that...

TAGS: ACT, NAEP, SAT

Pocket Man

By Larry Sand
11/24/2020
If Joe Biden becomes president, will he go along with the teachers union wish list? As I wrote last week, charter school students, kids who are in other school choice programs, and taxpayers could be getting the short end of the stick if Joe Biden becomes president on January 20th. To assist Biden with policy...

TAGS: Charter schools, Chris Stewart, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, Joe Biden, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Lindsey Burke, NAEP, National Education Association, teachers union

Schools for Scandal

By Larry Sand
11/03/2020
As shown by the 2019 NAEP, most of our students are being badly shortchanged. The latest bad education news comes to us courtesy of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The most recent exam was administered to high school seniors in early 2019, a full year before the COVID-19 lockdowns. The so-called “Nation’s Report...

TAGS: collective bargaining, education spending, Greg Forster, Larry Sand, NAEP, Neal McCluskey, Randi Weingarten, school choice, seniority, teachers union, tenure

Los Angeles School District Needs a Hard Reset

By Larry Sand
02/04/2020
LAUSD and UTLA leaders are leading us down the road to financial ruin. A few weeks ago, I wrote that tax-grabbing state bureaucrats were pushing hard-working Californians to the brink. Incompetence, mismanaged money and union greed have turned the formerly Golden State into a failing enterprise. Here, I will focus on the Los Angeles Unified...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, Austin Beutner, Dan Walters, education spending, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, NAEP, Prop. 13, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Power to the parents!

By Larry Sand
01/21/2020
The abusive education monopoly must go. Having retired as a teacher over ten years ago, I often look back on some of the great educators that I worked with during my 28-year career, and how lucky their students were to have them. I also think about the stinkers I encountered, and how sad it is...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Howard Zinn, Indoctrination, Larry Sand, NAEP, National Education Association, National School Choice Week, PISA, teachers union, tenure

Undisrupted Education

By Larry Sand
04/17/2018
The world has progressed in amazing ways since 1983, but for the most part, public education has stagnated. In 1983, the first mobile telephones intended for public use were released, ARPANET became the technical foundation of the internet, and A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform was released. The latter was a report...

TAGS: A Nation at Risk, Center for Education Reform, Charter schools, Clayton Christensen, EdChoice, educational savings accounts, Fordham Institute, Heritage Foundation, Jeanne Allen, Jeb Bush, Larry Sand, Lindsey Burke, Matthew Ladner, Mike Petrilli, NAEP, National Assessment of Educational Progress, tax-credit scholarships, teachers union, vouchers

School Choice, Uber and Accountability

By Larry Sand
04/04/2017
Betsy DeVos’ ridesharing analogy is spot on, but draws Randi’s wrath.  At the Brookings Institution last week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos gave a talk in which she drew parallels between school choice and the ascendancy of ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft. “Just as the traditional taxi systems revolted against ridesharing, so too does the...

TAGS: accountability, American Federation of Teachers, Betsy DeVos, EdChoice, Jason Bedrick, Larry Sand, NAEP, Randi Weingarten, school choice, seniority, teachers union, tenure

Propaganda Every American Should Disregard

By Larry Sand
03/08/2016
Randi Weingarten promotes her union agenda in the guise of “cultural literacy.” Almost 30 years ago, education professor E.D. Hirsch wrote Cultural Literacy, in which he claimed that there are facts and cultural references that every American should know. His list was both celebrated and attacked, and is still controversial. While many approve of a...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Andrew Coulson, Jason Richwine, Larry Sand, NAEP, pensions, poverty, Randi Weingarten, teachers union

Union Greed

By Larry Sand
02/09/2016
The Chicago teachers’ pension scam exemplifies what unions claim to hate most about corporations. Chicago, long known as the Second City, may still be second in some things, but it seems to be #1 in teacher union greed. As it’s time for a new contract with the Chicago public school system (CPS), the inevitable blather...

TAGS: Bruce Rauner, Chicago public schools, Chicago Teachers Union, corporate greed, Karen Lewis, Larry Sand, NAEP, pension pick-up, Rahm Emanuel, teachers union