Waivers, lawsuits, pandemic pods and school choice legislation

By Larry Sand
07/28/2020
Last week, the school wars intensified on many fronts. Since Governor Gavin Newsom’s July 17th edict closing all but a handful of schools in California, much has transpired. First, it was uncovered a few days later that schools in the Golden State could apply for a waiver to reopen, something Newsom mysteriously omitted in his...

TAGS: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, California Policy Center, CDC, Gavin Newsom, Kerry McDonald, Lamar Alexander, Larry Sand, pandemic pods, Randi Weingarten, school choice, teachers union, Tim Scott

School is canceled in California

By Larry Sand
07/21/2020
Governor Newsom and teachers unions nix in-person instruction for most school kids in the fall. The writing was on the chalkboard when the California Teachers Association released a statement on July 8th asserting that, due to coronavirus concerns, schools should not open in the fall. The following day, the United Teachers of Los Angeles echoed...

TAGS: American Academy of Pediatrics, California Teachers Association, Corey DeAngelis, Gavin Newsom, John Fensterwald, Kevin Kiley, Larry Sand, Los Angeles Unified School District, pandemic pods, school choice, socialism, Speak Up, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Biden does teachers union bidding

By Larry Sand
07/14/2020
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders team up with the teachers unions; the big losers are poor and minority families. Back in May, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tapped Senator Bernie Sanders to help assemble six task forces which would make recommendations for the party’s 2020 platform. The allegedly moderate Biden joined up with the...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Bernie Sanders, Charter schools, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, Joe Biden, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, National Education Association, Pell Grants, privatization, Randi Weingarten, school choice, teachers union, vouchers

The Orange County Classical Academy is Going to Transform Education in California

By Edward Ring
07/08/2020
***Watch a mini-documentary on the creation of OCCA HERE*** In barely one month, 360 elementary school students will begin attending a new charter school that offers a dramatic departure from the failed public education model in California. The Orange County Classical Academy (OCCA) will open its doors to kindergarten through 5th-grade students, and apart from the...

TAGS: Charter schools, Common Core, orange county, orange county classical academy, school choice, teachers unions

Catholic lives matter

By Larry Sand
07/07/2020
The Supreme Court finally clears the way for students to use tax-credit scholarships to attend religious schools; the teachers unions and much of the MSM are apoplectic. The oldest daughter of single mom Kendra Espinoza was being bullied and her youngest daughter was struggling academically at their local public school in Montana. Kendra transferred them...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Larry Sand, National Education Association, Pell Grants, privatization, Randi Weingarten, Samuel Alito, school choice, teachers union, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, vouchers, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris

The wisdom of markets

By Larry Sand
06/30/2020
We choose where we buy food. Why can’t we do the same for our kids’ education? Those invested in the primacy of traditional public schools – notably the teachers unions, bureaucrats and others who financially benefit from the current set-up – insist that the government is best suited to be in charge of educating our...

TAGS: Larry Sand, privatization, school choice, teachers union, vouchers

The rigid old normal

By Larry Sand
05/26/2020
When the Covid-19 craziness subsides, our calcified zip-code education laws will endure. Pundits are continuously speculating about what the post-pandemic “new normal” will look like in education when schools open (hopefully) in a few months. Many say that smaller class size will be necessary to facilitate social distancing. Some think that homeschooling will flourish. While...

TAGS: Gloria Romero, Larry Sand, National Education Association, school choice, teachers union

School choice ascending

By Larry Sand
05/19/2020
As traditional public schools grapple with the effects of Covid-19, many parents are awakening to school choice.  The left-right debate about how to improve education in the U.S. often comes down to money v. school choice. Many on the left bemoan the fact that we don’t “invest” more in education. It doesn’t help to point...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Betsy DeVos, COVID-19, Diane Ravitch, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, school choice, teachers union

Freedom for me, but not for thee

By Larry Sand
04/14/2020
Temporary Los Angeles teacher union contract, inspired by COVID-19, liberates teachers, but parents and kids are still held captive, of course. On Thursday, April 9th the Los Angeles Unified School District struck a distance-learning pact with the United Teachers of Los Angeles. The seat-of-the-pants labor agreement was necessitated by the closing of all district schools...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, coronavirus, COVID-19, education savings account, Larry Sand, school choice, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Bond fatigue and school choice

By Larry Sand
03/17/2020
Californians nix school bonds as Florida’s parental choice program expands. It looks like California’s Prop.13, a $15 billion school construction bond, has been defeated. This is notable because voters had not rejected a bond of this nature since 1994. Additionally, supporters raised $10 million for the campaign, while opponents spent 1/40th of that amount –...

TAGS: Greg Forster, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Jon Coupal, Larry Sand, Measure EE, Prop. 13, school choice, teachers union