Voice For Liberty

Tag: Education

  • School Choice Resource Center Now Open

    I’ve created a small portal of information and links about school choice. I hope to expand this as I become aware of more school choice resources and success stories. Particularly, I want to include more information about school choice initiatives in Kansas. The link to the page is here: School Choice Resource Center.

  • More Kansas National Education Association candidate questions

    The “Kansas Political Action Committee,” a group associated with the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA, the teachers union) has a questionnaire it asks candidates for the Kansas legislature to complete. After reading a few of these questions, it became clear to me that the questions are formulated to advance the interests of the teachers union…

  • In Wichita schools, smaller classes mean adding on — and subtracting

    Today’s Wichita Eagle contains a story about the need for additional classroom space to support the initiative of USD 259, the Wichita public school district, to reduce class size.

  • Wichita School Bond Presentation by Helen Cochran

    On September 15, 2008, Helen Cochran of Citizens for Better Education gave a talk before a Wichita civic group. Her talk was fabulous. Here are some highlights: Helen (like myself) has tried to get test scores from USD 259 (Wichita public school district), but it’s a difficult process. There’s always a delay or reason why…

  • Wichita Eagle’s Richard Crowson: Cartoonist for the Teachers Union

    In 2006, Wichita Eagle editorial Cartoonist Richard Crowson received an award from the Kansas teachers union. He’s a “friend of education.” Really. I wonder if Crowson realizes the harm that teachers unions cause? I wonder if he know that teachers unions try to block every attempt at meaningful reform?

  • Ohio School Choice Improves Public Schools

    The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice has produced the report Promising Start — An Empirical Analysis of How EdChoice Vouchers Affect Ohio Public Schools, which finds these results: This study finds that the EdChoice program produced academic improvements in voucher-eligible public schools. … This study adds to a large body of empirical research that consistently…

  • Mark McCormick’s Wichita School Bond Challenge: The Inside Story

    Recently Wichita Eagle columnist Mark McCormick challenged Helen Cochran, spokesperson for Citizens for Better Education, a citizen group opposed to the proposed Wichita school bond issue, to answer a few questions. In Sunday’s column he presented Cochran’s answers. I spoke to Ms. Cochran and exchanged a few email messages, and I asked her a few…

  • Kansas National Education Association candidate questions

    After reading them, it became clear to me that the questions are formulated to advance the interests of the teachers union and others wrapped up in — and profiting from — the public school bureaucracy and its monopoly on the use of state education funds. The questions contain many statements expressing support for more taxing…

  • Kansas State SAT Scores Continue a Gradual Decline

    In the post titled State SAT scores continue a gradual decline, Kansas Liberty reports on the latest Scholastic Aptitude Test scores for Kansas college-bound students. The results? Scores are declining. The post connects the decline in scores to the Kansas Supreme Court’s 2005 mandate to increase spending on Kansas schools by a large amount. A…

  • Wichita School Bond Issue Opponents: Driving What? And How?

    In his Sunday Wichita Eagle column, Mark McCormick complains that the Wichita school bond issue opponents are a) cynical, b) short-sighted, c) myopic, d) forces pulling us backwards, e) frightening voters, f) spending too much at Starbucks, g) only saying “no,” h) hiding their true agenda to replace public schools with vouchers, i) not honest…

  • Kansas School Board Candidate Forum, June 30, 2008

    I attended a forum on June 30, 2008, for candidates for two district seats on the Kansas State Board of Education. The event was held at Allison Middle School in Wichita and moderated by Randy Brown. Candidates attending were Walt Chappell, David Dennis, Dennis Hedke, Charles Wiggins, and Paul Casanova. Marty Marshall did not attend.…

  • Wichita School Bond Issue: Surrounding Districts Are Growing and Building New Facilities

    Supporters of the proposed bond issue for USD 259, the Wichita, Kansas public school district, say that Wichita schoolchildren deserve the same nice and new facilities that many of the surrounding suburban districts have been building. Typical is an editorial in The Wichita Eagle on February 10, 2008, stating “The [Wichita school] district officials kept…