March 11, 2024
Why Educators Often Have It Wrong About Right-Leaning Parents
Three decades ago, John Gray’s mega-hit book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, sold 15 million copies. The premise was simple: When we see the world in different ways, it’s easy to misunderstand or talk past one another. That insight applies emphatically in today’s very online world. In polarized times, it’s all too easy to…
March 6, 2024
It’s Time to Scrap the Federal Student Loan Program
It may come as a surprise, but the Biden administration has effectively abolished the federal student loan program. Well, at least if a “student loan program” is understood as one in which students borrow money and then eventually repay it. That program has been replaced by a perverse entitlement in which students borrow taxpayer funds,…
March 5, 2024
A Conservative Vision for Education Reform
For two guys who just published a book about the need for a conservative vision for education policy, San Francisco has been a gift that keeps on giving. When we were writing the book, the school board, which adamantly refused to reopen schools for nearly a year, instead (unsuccessfully) devoted its energies to renaming dozens of schools — including those named for…
February 29, 2024
Parents’ Rights, Yes. But Parent Responsibilities, Too
Americans disagree with one another about all manner of important topics when it comes to schools and schooling. That’s inevitable in a nation of more than 300 million people. And even good-faith disagreements will inevitably lead to a certain degree of conflict and strife. That’s part of what it means to live in a free…
February 22, 2024
Chronic Absenteeism Could Be the Biggest Problem Facing Schools Right Now
Chronic absenteeism has become a grim reality across the nation. Nationwide, chronic absenteeism nearly doubled from 15 percent in 2018 to 26 percent in 2023. How bad are these numbers, really, and how can schools respond? My friend and colleague Nat Malkus has the most recent available numbers in his Return to Learn Tracker. In addition,…
February 15, 2024
Conservatives Must Seize the Opportunity to Lead on Education. Here’s How…
Chaotic campuses rife with double standards about the kinds of speech that merit protection. A Biden administration determined to let student borrowers shrug off hundreds of billions in loans and stick taxpayers with the tab. Progressive states working to eliminate advanced math based on misguided notions of “equity.” Survey findings showing that, when asked about the purpose of civics education, more K–12 teachers mention…
February 14, 2024
Four States That Are Leading the Charge for Conservative Education
It’s looking like this year’s election will feature a Trump-Biden rematch — a pairing that’s especially frustrating for education, where the nation is wrestling with a raft of real problems: dismal student achievement, chronic absenteeism, chaotic classrooms, plunging confidence in higher education, and more. The Biden administration makes clear that a party beholden to the teacher unions can’t do much…
February 7, 2024
Elite Colleges Need to Offer Less Affirmation. And Insist on More Work.
Recently, I offered a not-so-sophisticated explanation for the histrionics we’ve seen at elite colleges: too many students are simply aimless, lonely, and bored. Well-meaning concern about the mental and emotional state of college students today has fueled a lot of affirmation and hand-holding. But much of this may ultimately be counterproductive, exacerbating fragility rather than supporting well-being….
February 7, 2024
The Past and Future of Education Reform
When the French statesman Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand was asked for his thoughts on the Bourbon royal family in exile, he replied, “Ils n’ont rien appris, ni rien oublié.” They have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing. The Bourbons hadn’t learned the lessons of the French Revolution or grasped what it revealed about their nation. Worse, they carried…
December 12, 2023
Virginia’s Gov. Youngkin Offers A Republican Path On Pre-K
The public wins when Democrats and Republicans are both offering principled solutions to pressing challenges. That’s too rarely been the case when it comes to early childhood education. For a public seeking more accessible, appealing, and affordable options, the political response has disappointed. Democrats have offered expensive, heavily regulated plans to jam more four- and five-year-olds into…