Teacher-union excesses 'more a symptom than a cause'

Our school-performance woes are not the union's fault, Andrew Coulson writes over at HuffPo. "It is the natural result of operating K-12 education as a fully state-funded monopoly."

[I]t is not an attack on government to observe that government is bad at running schools, anymore than it's an attack on shovels to note that they make lousy Web browsers. No single tool can do every job. Nor is it an attack on the ideals of public education to say that state monopolies are an ineffective way to pursue them. That's a confusion of ends and means. Public education is a not a particular pile of bricks or stack of regulations, it is a set of goals: universal access, preparation for participation in public life as well as success in private life, building harmony and understanding among communities.

If the true allegiance of reformist Democrats is to those ultimate ideals, then they should have no problem acknowledging that government monopolies are ill-suited to advancing them, and that teachers-union excesses are more a symptom than a cause of our monopoly-induced woes. Finding the best policies for advancing our educational ideals then becomes a practical, tractable problem. The participation of reformist Democrats in solving it will be a tremendous boon to the children they seek to help.

'School offers help and hope for OKC-area students with autism

Great story by Carla Hinton today in The Oklahoman.

Dumping the Know-Nothing amendments

Former Boston mayor Raymond L. Flynn on church, state, and school reform.

Cat fight

Girls at Douglass started fighting each other right before Jesse arrived for a visit.

Private-school entrepreneurs are serving slum-dwellers

Henry Scholarship program remains intact

As the appeals process continues.

Pat McGuigan and Stacy Martin have more.

Do you believe in miracles?

FOX 25's Kisha Henry says they're happening in Oklahoma City at a one-of-a-kind school for children with autism.

Parents say Henry Scholarships are important

12-year-old OKC student arrested for stabbing classmate

She wouldn't give her some M&M's.

Underfunded-schools watch

Stillwater Public Schools bought a shopping center for $4.3 million.

Hispanic teacher

... supports school choice.

Homeschooling docs

Over at CNN, pediatrician Bethany M. Gardiner explains why she chose homeschooling, calling to mind the story of an Oklahoma City doc who did the same.

New online community discussing Henry Scholarships

There's a new Facebook page for parents, policymakers, and others interested in the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship Program for Children with Disabilities.