charter schools

In the wake of Native American Indian Heritage Month, Sen. McCain’s bill is just the thing.

A new report published by the Manhattan Institute warns us of an impending crisis: In the coming years, taxpayers will continue to be taxed more heavily to pay for teachers’ retirements, teacher pension debt will keep growing, and children will suffer for it.

Supporters of parental choice in education who cheered Donald Trump’s apparent embrace of their cause in a post-Labor Day speech in Cleveland could now find themselves singing the blues as the presidential race heads down the homestretch.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel’s administration reached a tentative agreement to avert what would have been the second teachers strike in Chicago in four years.

There is a growing divide within the education reform movement between the so-called technocrats and free-marketeers, causing confusion with parents and grassroots activists and making reform much more difficult to achieve.

In finally rolling out his education plan September 8, Donald Trump once again proved to be the most unorthodox of presidential candidates. While his style frequently flummoxes political foes and friends alike, this time he appears to have succeeded in putting school choice on the campaign’s center stage.

In today’s edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, we listen in as Research Fellow Heather Kays appears on the “Freedom Works Show” on Tantalk1340 in Florida with host Paul Molloy. Kays was on to talk about the various education related issues that are taking place around the country.

The Washington state Supreme Court on Sept. 4 rule the state’s charter school law as unconstitutional. The justices dug deep to justify their decision, referencing a definition of public schools from a 1909 case, School District 20 vs. Bryan. Instead of citing a particular right spelled out in the U.S. Constitution or Washington state’s constitution, the court based its ruling largely on its own, distinctive interpretation of the term “common schools.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada filed a lawsuit on August 27 challenging the constitutionality of Nevada’s education savings account (ESA) program. The ACLU claims the Nevada ESA program furthers a religious and sectarian purpose by allowing parents to choose religious educational options for their children.

In today’s edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, Director of Communications Jim Lakely speaks with Heather Kays. Kays is a Heartland research fellow and managing editor of School Reform News. Kays joins Lakely to discuss three troubling education stories coming out of the state of Washington.

Next year I would encourage more conservatives to attend this event. It is important to get the message out of limited government with less taxes, less spending, and less borrowing. This will create more freedom, liberty, and opportunity for all. I welcome the debate, even if I have to stand on a soapbox.

As we approach the birthday of the land of the free and the home of the brave, we have much to be thankful for. But this year we are especially grateful that the school choice movement has won many victories that embody our All-American values of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and equal opportunity for all.

According to some activists, charter schools are the villain in the nation’s current education narrative.