Friday, January 31, 2014

'School choice and Common Core: mortal enemies'

"There is no escape, no foolproof sanctuary, from the reach of meddling Fed Ed bureaucrats and cash-hungry special interests who think they know what's best for our kids," Michelle Malkin writes.
Big-government Republicans such as Jeb Bush and flip-flopping Mike Huckabee pay lip service to increasing school choice and supporting charter schools, private schools and homeschooling. Yet, they have been among the loudest GOP peddlers of the Common Core "standards"/textbook/testing/data collection regime thrust upon schools who want nothing to do with it. ...

Homeschool mom of six and blogger Karen Braun of Michigan sees the threat to her choice, too. Her trenchant message: "True school choice allows a parent to choose any school that meets their child's needs, not just those that adopt Common Core State standards and assessments."

No fully funded school voucher system in the world can improve the educational experience if Fed Ed controls the classroom and homeschool room. Coerced conformity kills choice.

A social atrocity


Homeschooling on the rise

In Kingfisher, Oklahoma.

Universal school choice 'should be our highest policy priority'

A new survey released by the Friedman Foundation and OCPA finds that Oklahomans support school choice. OCPA president Michael Carnuccio discusses some of the survey results here.

One particular choice that Oklahomans favor is Arizona-style Education Savings Accounts. Indeed, Oklahoma may become the second state to offer Education Savings Accounts, which would certainly result in more positive tomorrows for the Oklahoma youngsters who need them most. ESAs would even help Oklahoma parents save for college.

But whether it's ESAs, vouchers, tax credits, or a menu featuring all of those options, OCPA's Milton Friedman Distinguished Fellow says "the establishment of universal school choice should be our highest policy priority."

Thursday, January 30, 2014

OKC teacher accused of inappropriate relationship with students

News 9 has the story.

Survey says Oklahoma homeschoolers are stacking up well

First, let me point you to this FOX 25 homeschooling story which aired last night. (Full disclosure: I'm hopelessly biased towards the homeschooled children in this story.)

In related homeschooling news, a new survey released this week by the Friedman Foundation and OCPA contains a couple of interesting nuggets. The statewide survey was conducted by Braun Research, Inc., a firm which has been used by such research organizations as Gallup and the Pew Research Center. It has a margin of error of ± 4.0 percentage points. Oklahoma voters were asked: "If you know one or more families that homeschool their children, what is your impression of the quality of their education?" A plurality of voters, 45 percent, rate the education as "good" or "excellent," while 28 percent say it is "fair" or "poor." (The other 27 percent don’t know a homeschool family or didn’t give a response.)

By way of comparison, the same survey asked respondents to rate Oklahoma's public school system. While 39 percent rate it as "good" or "excellent," 58 percent say it is "fair" or "poor."

Also of interest is the question below about what option parents would select for their own child. Eleven percent of Oklahomans say they would choose to homeschool.