The Last Days of Public School

My son on his day in public school: We got to watch videos all day and no learning. As you might guess, I was thrilled to hear this.  Perhaps he should testify in front of the legislature when teachers claim they are overworked and underpaid?  And I supposedly live in a district with excellent schools!  I [...]

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Waiting for “Superman”

I know I’m late to the game here, but I highly recommend that you see this documentary on the failure of our public schools.  Waiting for ‘Superman’  isn’t flawless, but it is very much worth your time.  It starts a bit slow but ultimately rewards your patience.  The ”stars” of the film are compelling people, especially the kids.  The parents show [...]

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Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread

For those of you who are trying to supplement your child’s schooling or wish to buck the entire public/private school system altogether, I’d like to recommend the Khan Academy.  Started by former hedge fund manager Sal Khan, the Khan Academy is essentially a free on-line school that teaches everything from basic addition to the French Revolution [...]

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Chart of the Day

From Cato@Liberty.

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I Want a School!

I had one of those Wow! moments a few weeks ago when I came across a new policy analysis by Adam Schaeffer at Cato. The analysis took a close look at actual school district budgets from the nation’s five largest metropolitan areas and the District of Columbia.  Schaeffer found that, on average, these districts spend [...]

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Ya’ Think?

So, I’ve often wondered what is the biggest problem with public education today. Is it something philosophical –like they are teaching kids to love the welfare state? Or perhaps it is financial–maybe insufficient resources, or poor allocation of resources? Or maybe institutional–a number of problems related to bloated educational bureaucracies, to excess regulation, to heavy-handed [...]

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