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Center for Education Policy |
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Dear Colleague,
Welcome back. We are excited to share the latest from The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy.
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Parents of schoolchildren around the U.S. are demanding accountability and transparency from their local school systems, rejecting the racial discrimination of critical race theory (CRT), and looking for a Parents’ Bill of Rights. Check out the map above to see how legislation is progressing across the U.S. and your state to see details of state-level legislation.
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Washington Examiner, Jonathan Butcher and Jason Bedrick
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Education bureaucrats are “socially affirming” children who are confused about their sex — often without their parents’ knowledge. Parents are furious, and rightfully so. "But lawmakers have a simple solution that reconnects the act of 'affirming' a child with the idea that parents are a child’s primary caregivers," Jonathan Butcher and Jason Bedrick argue.
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The Daily Signal, Jason Bedrick and Matthew Ladner
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The Georgia legislature may soon consider a proposal to give families greater freedom to choose learning environments that align with their values. Opponents of ESAs are arguing that choice policies either don’t benefit rural areas or are harmful to rural district schools. Jason Bedrick and Matthew Ladner of the Arizona Center for Student Opportunity at the Arizona Charter School Association write, "Fears that the wide availability of education options would harm rural schools are entirely unfounded."
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The National Review, Jonathan Butcher
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The evidence has been mounting for years: Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, ironically enough, don’t make people more tolerant of individual differences. So why aren’t the “experts” who say racism is still omnipresent calling for different solutions?
Likely because they are the ones spreading—and benefiting handsomely from—the DEI gospel. "Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, ironically enough, don’t make people more tolerant of individual differences," Jonathan Butcher writes.
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The Daily Signal, Madison Marino
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Jan. 22 to Jan. 28 was National School Choice Week, and what better way to highlight the fact that parents today have more choices for their children’s education than ever before than by celebrating Iowa’s Students First Act being signed into law in January. "2023 looks poised to be the biggest year yet for education choice, with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, first out of the gate. Other states, such as Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, are also expected to take steps to expand education choice opportunities," Madison Marino explains.
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The Daily Signal, Jason Bedrick
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An epidemic of antisemitism in the U.S. isn’t coming exclusively from right-wing extremists. It’s coming from leftists in higher education and openly antisemitic organizations the federal government is funding with our tax dollars. "Congress must force a comprehensive review, to include Department of Justice investigations, of how U.S. tax dollars are being used to fund antisemitic activities at the United Nations and at America’s institutions of higher education," Jason Bedrick argues.
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Goldwater Institute, Jonathan Butcher
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Education savings accounts continue to change the way Arizona families think about their child’s K-12 school experience, despite Gov. Katie Hobbs’ threats to cut the program. Over the last year, the accounts have also changed the way businesses and entrepreneurs think about education, too. "The accounts create more opportunities in education, enhance transparency, and attract innovation," Jonathan Butcher writes.
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The Daily Signal, Lindsey Burke and Mike Gonzalez
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It turns out that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was once again right to take a stand against woke ideology when he banned a course ostensibly devoted to African American studies.
The White House —and NPR liberals shilling for it on the public dime—slammed him for it, but the course was indeed more Marxism masquerading as ethnic studies. "As currently constructed, the AP course violates Florida law providing protections for students against the discrimination of critical race theory," Lindsey Burke and Mike Gonzalez argue.
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The Daily Signal, Jonathan Butcher
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Teachers unions have long opposed efforts to give parents more choices in education. But parents today should quote something from Samuel Gompers, who founded the American Federation of Labor in the 19th century, to union members: "Doing for people what they can and ought to do for themselves is a dangerous experiment." That surely applies to doing things like choosing a school for someone else’s child. "[Sen. Mike] Lee’s proposal provides more freedom to a group of people who are motivated to be most ingenious; namely, parents in low-income areas," Jonathan Butcher writes.
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The Daily Signal, Jason Bedrick
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As America celebrates National School Choice Week two states—Iowa and Utah—have made the first moves this year to empower families with a greater say in how their children are educated. Additionally, the evidence from states with robust school choice policies is debunking opponents’ charges that choice harms rural students and homeschoolers. "Not only have Arizona’s rural schools not shown signs of harm, they’ve actually improved considerably over the last two decades," Jason Bedrick explains.
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reimaginEd, Jonathan Butcher
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Should schools do more to train students for the workforce, or focus on the three R’s? South Carolina K-12 officials have been debating that very question lately. A few education experts from around the country also chimed in, according to a local report. "South Carolina has another chance to give families the ability to choose what is best for children," Jonathan Butcher argues.
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The Washington Times, Jonathan Butcher
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School districts across the country have established diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices to reduce discrimination, and the Department of Education regularly touts the value of DEI programs to quell bias. "They should opt for something different—say, lessons on the shared American values of equality under the law, freedom and opportunity," Jonathan Butcher explains.
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MSN, Jason Bedrick and Matthew Ladner
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The Texas legislature will soon consider a proposal to give families greater freedom to choose learning environments that align with their values and meet their children’s individual learning needs. Jason Bedrick and Arizona Center for Student Opportunity at the Arizona Charter School Association Matthew Ladner write, "Education choice policies like ESAs expand educational opportunity for rural families while spurring rural district schools to improve their performance."
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The Daily Signal, Adam Kissel
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The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday released new rules for income-based repayment of student loans, in what amounts to nothing less than a new socialism of higher education. The scheme will cause a massive inflow of loans into the new system and cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. "The Department of Education can’t make college free, but it’s making strides in bringing socialism to higher education. Congress shouldn’t stand for that," Adam Kissel argues.
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Fox News, Jason Bedrick and Matthew Ladner
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As a former public school teacher, Kat S. deeply values education. She was glad her local public school had a good reputation for quality. But even though her son made honor roll consistently, Kat suspected something was wrong. She never saw him writing, and she felt he wasn’t getting the help he needed at school for his ADHD. Jason Bedrick and Arizona Center for Student Opportunity at the Arizona Charter School Association Matthew Ladner explain, "Assessments showed that her 'honor roll student' was three years below grade level in math and could barely write more than a few sentences."
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The Daily Signal, Lindsey Burke
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The average American university has more than 45 individuals with jobs devoted to promoting so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI programs push divisive identity politics as well as distorted narratives about American history. But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is once again leading on this issue, taking a first step in clamping down on these counterproductive positions and administrative bloat. "Florida is leading the way in weakening the Left’s capture of education institutions," Lindsey Burke argues.
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The Daily Signal, Jason Bedrick
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Unfortunately, Kentucky children who stood to benefit from access to a greater number of education options no longer will get that chance. Funds that a private citizen gives to a private, nonprofit organization now are considered public funds if the donation reduces the donor’s tax liability. "The Education Opportunity Accounts program is dead. It now appears that expanding education choice in Kentucky will require a constitutional amendment," Jason Bedrick writes.
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Heritage Expert Reports:
Seizing the Moment: A State Education Agenda for 2023
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Heritage experts Jonathan Butcher and Lindsey Burke, Ph.D., offer state officials proposals to help every child succeed, along with ideas for protecting free speech on college campuses. If implemented, these solutions will help to remake K–12 and higher education into an experience for students that helps them to advance in school and in life.
Read the full report here.
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Rustic Renaissance: Education Choice in Rural America | The Heritage Foundation
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Heritage experts Jason Bedrick and Ed Choice's Matthew Ladner, explains that policymakers who want to increase education options for rural families should enact education choice policies, such as K–12 education savings accounts, and broaden charter school laws to make it easier to open them in rural areas.
Read the full report here.
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