Quote of the day

"I don't know much about Arne Duncan, President-elect Obama's choice to be Secretary of Education," David Boaz writes this morning. "But I do note this: In seven years running the Chicago public schools, this longtime friend of Obama was apparently not able to produce a single public school that Obama considered good enough for his own children."

'School for $6 a month'

In a new commentary on Forbes.com, Chester Finn reports that "lots of needy kids are getting a decent education at an astoundingly low cost in spite of their governments' failure to provide anything of the sort."

What a surprise

The Chicago Public Schools weren't good enough for Barack Obama's children, and apparently they're not good enough for Rahm Emanuel's children, either.

The next frontier in school choice?

The venerable American Enterprise Institute hosts a discussion on tax credits Monday.

What the Big Three automakers could learn from public schools

Don't ask for a mere one-time bailout, Andrew Coulson says. Ask for permanent government ownership and control.

Private schools are regulated

"There is a widespread misperception that private schools avoid government oversight or are 'unregulated,'" the Friedman Foundation reports. But in fact, Oklahoma's private schools "are subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations that run the gamut from reasonable rules to ensure health and safety to unreasonable rules that interfere with school curricula, preventing schools from pursuing the educational approaches that work best for their students."

Black market alive and well

[Guest post by OCPA intern Emily Solomon]

The black market for school choice is still alive and well in Oklahoma.

In the December issue of Perspective, published by OCPA, Dr. Donald Tyler, pastor of Greater Grace in Tulsa, pointed out that in Tulsa, "Some kids are able, by using false addresses, to get into the better public schools -- Union or Jenks or Broken Arrow -- but there are kids who cannot go that direction. It's just awful to see the number stuck in an environment with not the best the teachers, not the best facilities, and not the best environment for them to learn and grow in."

Of course, it's not just Tulsa. Last year (and likely again this year), Edmond schools required enrollees to bring a utility bill on enrollment day to prove their residency within the district. This wouldn't be necessary if people weren't trying to cheat the system. But can you blame them? They just want what's best for their kids.

Nothing is forever

In a house editorial October 31, the weekly Oklahoma City newspaper Friday noted that

It is ironic how the industry and public in America shudder at the thought of government health care for everybody. We do not want socialized medicine. ... The further irony, that is never mentioned, is that, forever, we have had "socialized education." ... We don't even think about that. It's just a given.

In a letter to the editor published November 28, I wrote:

Thank you for your October 31 editorial reminding us that "forever, we have had 'socialized education.'" However, I want to take issue with that word "forever." In truth, America has a grand tradition, stretching back to colonial times, of educational freedom. As a matter of fact, it's a tradition that predates and is longer than our current tradition of delivering education through a government-owned-and-run monopoly.

Many people today are trying to roll back socialized education and regain a measure of that freedom, mainly through school-choice policies which empower parents to choose the safest and best schools for their children.

Big Labor is doing to education ...

... just what it did to the Big Three automakers.


The Truth about Teachers Unions from Union Facts on Vimeo.

Not your father's Senate

Sometimes life serves up delicious little morsels that need to be savored.

I realize that school choice still hasn't arrived in Oklahoma, but I ask you to ponder this (once unthinkable) factoid: Both the chairman and the vice chairman of the state Senate Education Committee are members of the group Oklahomans for School Choice.

What's next for school choice?

[Guest post by OCPA intern Emily Solomon]

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) recently hosted a panel discussion that explored the future of school choice.

Since 1990, we have seen an 80 percent increase in the number of school choice programs in the United States. Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, believes that future expansion is inevitable. However, in order for expansion to occur, we must first realize the following:

· Vouchers are not an intervention; they’re an opportunity

· Parents choose schools holistically, so higher test scores are not the sole indicator of success

· School choice is about social justice and providing lower-income people with more opportunities

Did Obama choose America's worst school?

Greg Forster is perplexed that Mr. and Mrs. Obama would pick Sidwell Friends, a "shockingly substandard school" (no unionized workforce, no collective bargaining, weak teacher benefits, and so on), "even though they had the opportunity to go with the nation's most lavishly funded and heavily unionized schools."

As patriotic Americans, how can we stand by while our president's family gets such substandard services?

Beyond mere slogans

The Tulsa World reports that state Sen. Jay Paul Gumm (D-Durant) has filed legislation which would allow Oklahomans to purchase license plates bearing the motto "In God We Trust."

Sounds like a good plan to me. But as I've said before, suppose a teacher took that license plate off her car, brought it into the classroom, and hung it on the bulletin board. And suppose she said, "Students, you need to know that it is in God we trust. Really. Christianity is a comprehensive worldview, and in my classroom God’s Word is the interpretive principle of every subject."

That, of course, would not be permitted. Even if an individual teacher happens to trust in God, the schools themselves are agnostic as matter of law and public policy. In the ACLU we trust.

So here's my modest proposal this Advent season. The state Senate should pass Sen. Gumm's bill, but only after passing tax-credit legislation which would empower some children to attend private schools where "In God We Trust" is a day-to-day reality.

Slogans that will fit on a bumper sticker (or license plate) are all well and good. But let's actually empower Oklahoma youngsters to attend a school where they can learn to love the Lord their God with all their minds.