What's better than Nick's Law?

Lexie's Law.

This $5 million school-choice tax credit, signed into law yesterday by the governor of Arizona, is named after Lexie Weck, a seven-year-old girl with autism, cerebral palsy, and mild mental retardation who attends a small private school in Tempe that specializes in working with autistic children.

'School choice is the new civil rights struggle'

Great column by Brendan Miniter in today's Wall Street Journal.

'A productivity collapse unparalleled in any other sector of the economy'

Education scholar Andrew J. Coulson has looked at the latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and says they "reveal a productivity collapse unparalleled in any other sector of the economy.

At the end of high school, students perform no better today than they did nearly 40 years ago, and yet we spend more than twice as much per pupil in real, inflation-adjusted terms. I can't think of any other service that has gotten worse during my lifetime. Our school system has failed alone.

Saving children the public schools rejected

Public-school choice continues to grow

Michael J. Petrilli highlights some findings from The Condition of Education 2009.

USA Today reports on homeschool growth

The number of homeschoolers has nearly doubled in a decade, the nation's largest newspaper reports today on its front page:

As of spring 2007, an estimated 1.5 million, or 2.9% of all school-age children in the USA, were home-schooled, up from 1.7% in 1999.

'Online learning is becoming more accepted'

Dawn Marks reports that

Oklahoma Virtual High School enrollment could grow by 20 percent to 30 percent in the coming year, one official said.

Enrollment is open now for the coming school year, the fourth year for the school, said Andy Scantland, vice president of marketing for Advanced Academics, the company that runs the school. In the past school year, the program had about 1,000 students across the state, he said.

"Online learning is becoming more accepted," Scantland said. "Online learning isn't for everyone, but if you're someone who needs a different approach, this might be an option."

Do the math

In a letter to the editor published Saturday in The Oklahoman, public-school math teacher Robert Hanna expresses skepticism that a school-choice tax credit can increase per-pupil funding while saving taxpayers money. I would encourage Mr. Hanna to take a look at this spreadsheet tool (or design a better one himself), and then share with readers whether or not school choice does indeed save money while increasing per-pupil funding. If he'll write to me (schoolchoice at ocpathink dot org), I'll be happy to post his findings here.

Oklahoma Virtual High School hosting info meetings

More details here.

Teachers are hindered ...

... by the public-school environment, according to a new study.

Using data from the Schools and Staffing Survey, a major national survey of teachers conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, the Friedman Foundation discovered that private school teachers have higher job satisfaction, greater autonomy, and more support than their public school counterparts.

Curb your (universal preschool) enthusiasm

Advice from Checker Finn and from The Heritage Foundation.

Lockdowns? Bomb threats? We gotcha covered

"In order to facilitate quick and effective communication among parents and school staff when dealing with rumors or emergencies, hundreds of schools across the state of Oklahoma have implemented the SchoolReach Instant Parent Contact system," Earth Times reports today.

The system performs extremely well in emergency situations, like lockdowns, when every second is critical. ... "These deployments are part of a growing trend in school security and crisis management among Oklahoma schools," said Paul Langhorst, vice president of operations at GroupCast, SchoolReach's parent company. ... Enid Public Schools (EPS), for example, implemented the system in February 2007 after having to deal with several bomb threats that turned out to be pranks.

Disabled students harmed

"Children with disabilities are being secluded from classmates and restrained against their will to control their behavior, a new investigative report finds -- interventions that have led to harm and, in rare cases, deaths," the nation's largest newspaper reports today on its front page. "In many cases, the restraints happen even when students aren't physically aggressive or dangerous, says a report from the Government Accountability Office being released Tuesday."