The Wall Street Journal reports:Here's a pop quiz: Who's donated the most money to an effort in California to defeat Proposition 8, an initiative on the November 4 ballot that would define marriage as between a man and a woman in the state? A) Gay-advocacy organizations B) Civil-rights groups C) The California Teachers Association If you guessed "C," you understand the nature of modern liberal politics. And if you didn't, perhaps you're wondering what exactly gay marriage has to do with K-12 public education. The high school dropout rate is 1-in-4 in California and 1-in-3 in the Los Angeles public school system, odds that worsen considerably among black and Hispanic children. So you might think the CTA, the state's largest … [Read more...]
Harsanyi: Choice Key to Overcoming Union Obstacle to Dropout Problem
In today's Denver Post column, David Harsanyi brings attention to the new America's Promise Alliance (APA) report on the dropout "crisis." Knowing the report will fuel the cry for more money to solve the problem, Harsanyi explains:Teachers unions place culpability for education woes on a lack of funding and "cuts." This is a myth. Obviously, schools could always benefit from an infusion of cash but, in most of the failing systems, funding per pupil is at an all-time high. According to a study by the right-of-center Hoover Institution, in 1982 per-pupil spending was $5,930 and rose 60 percent by 2000 to $9,230 in inflation-adjusted dollars (in high-population districts, the number is far higher). In Utah, a recent school-reform … [Read more...]