The critics of school choice programs often point out that most parents are satisfied with their local government school. Most polls find that 70 percent or more of parents believe their child is receiving an adequate education. This means that 30 percent of parents aren’t satisfied with their child’s government school. Those parents want alternatives…
A reader recently asked why an organization that defends property rights is interested in school choice. The reason is: school choice is a property rights issue. The right to property means the freedom to produce, trade, and use material values as one deems best. For producers, this means the freedom to produce a product or…
A growing number of Congressmen are calling for Sen. Bob Menendez to resign after being charged for a variety of crimes, including bribery. Menendez and his wife allegedly received cash, gold bars, and other assets in exchange for the Senator’s influence. The calls for Menedez to resign are a classic case of the pot calling…
Like many states, Colorado has a state-wide ban on rent control. As is happening in other states, renters and housing activists are attempting to repeal the ban. In a recent opinion piece, two Boulder residents openly admit that they are nothing more than thugs, writing that Colorado’s ban on rent control means we cannot force…
The Rent Control Board (RCB) in Santa Monica, California has come up with a unique “solution” to the city’s shortage of affordable housing—force landlords to remove their properties from the rental market. The board wants to enforce a state law—the Ellis Act—that requires landlords who evict a tenant to leave the rental market for at…
California is poised to impose new regulations for fast-food restaurants. The regulations would raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour and create a council to govern fast-food chains and set guidelines for working conditions. Demonstrating his ignorance of the source of prosperity, when he signed an earlier version of the legislation, Gov. Gavin Newsome…
Several Texas school districts have filed a lawsuit to stop implementation of a new grading system for schools. Currently, 60 percent of students must pass the College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) test for a school to receive an A. The new standard would be 88 percent. School districts are claiming that they haven’t had…
When rights are ascribed to groups, conflicts necessarily result when non-members of the favored group become victims of the alleged rights. This is true no matter which group is favored, including parents. An illuminating example comes from Florida, where advocates of “parents’ rights” have achieved many legislative victories, including an expanded school choice program. Instead…
Stacy Davis Gates, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, is being criticized for enrolling her son in a private school while opposing school choice programs. Gates has defended her hypocrisy by claiming that she and her husband were forced to enroll their son in a “private high school so he could live out his…
Opponents of school choice frequently claim that those who support vouchers and similar programs are racist. As one example, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weigarten recently compared advocates of “parents’ rights” to the segregationists of the 1950s. Chicago Teachers Union president Stacy Gates Davis has called private schools “segregation academies.” Both evade the fact…
A major criticism of school choice programs is that private schools receiving tax dollars are not held accountable to taxpayers. Indeed, a Texas House committee recently released a report that recommended that transparency and accountability be a part of any school choice program. If tax dollars are going to be funneled to private schools, the…
School choice programs empower parents to select the school that is best for their children. And those programs are creating a market for the education innovators. One example is OptimaEd, a Florida based company offering a virtual-reality school. Students at the school wear a virtual-reality headset off and on for about three hours per day….