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Charters are growing: Latino enrollment is way up
As district-run public schools lose enrollment -- 1.5 million students since 2019 -- charter schools are adding students, according to a...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 20, 20231 min read
1 comment

DIY schooling leaves home: Microschools, co-ops, hybrids, pods ...
When schools went remote, many parents took charge of their children's education, and learned how to find online and community resources,...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 21, 20232 min read
2 comments


Competing for kindergarteners
Kindergarten enrollment has fallen by 17 percent in the last six years in district school in New York City, reports the New York Post. In...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 8, 20232 min read
2 comments


Why parents choose virtual schools
Virtual schooling has a bad reputation, writes Ian Kingsbury, a senior fellow at the Educational Freedom Institute, in City Journal....
Joanne Jacobs
Jun 6, 20232 min read
4 comments


Poll finds strong, bipartisan support for school choice
Democrats and Republicans strongly support school choice, according to a new I&I/TIPP poll, reports Terry Jones. Here's the question,...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 26, 20231 min read
1 comment


Don't ignore the smart kids
Victoria McDougald thought kindergarten would be exciting and joyful for her son, "an eager, rapid learner," but she learned that the...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 20, 20232 min read
0 comments


Choice and common culture
We need to find a way to have school choice and to teach our "shared inheritance" as Americans, writes Fordham's Checker Finn. He worries...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 18, 20231 min read
10 comments


Church, state and public school: Is the wall crumbling?
An Oklahoma board rejected a proposed Catholic charter school, citing the need for clarification on how a tax-funded Catholic school...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 18, 20232 min read
1 comment


Back in the USA
We returned from Barcelona last night, so I'm a bit jet-lagged -- and where was my breakfast buffet this morning? -- but the blog is...
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 31, 20231 min read
3 comments


Conservatives shouldn't give up on public education
Public education is progressive in its goals, yet schools are conservative institutions, writes Robert Pondiscio in National Affairs....
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 22, 20231 min read
1 comment


Is a religious charter school kosher?
Oklahoma is considering approval of the first religious charter school in the U.S., reports Andrea Eger in Tulsa World. A state board is...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 15, 20232 min read
3 comments


Parents need 'choice navigators'
"Choice navigators" can help parents use education scholarships to find the right options for their children, writes Travis Pillow of the...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 8, 20232 min read
1 comment


Do parents know best? ESAs go for robots, rabbits, roping lessons
If a homeschooled child learns to code a toy robot, care for a pet rabbit or take cowboy roping lessons, is that an educational expense?...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 8, 20233 min read
7 comments


Choice lets parents find a school that respects their rights
"Families should not be stuck in an education system that actively undermines parental rights and ideologically grooms children, argues...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 25, 20231 min read
2 comments


54% of parents are considering a new school for their kids
A majority of parents are considering a new school, according to a new survey by the School Choice Awareness Foundation. Two-thirds say...
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 24, 20231 min read
2 comments


Scientists, engineers, chefs, gardeners become freelance teachers
An ecosystem of innovative schools and teaching specialists is growing in South Florida's Broward County, writes Ron Matus on ReimaginED....
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 12, 20232 min read
1 comment


How Denver schools improved: Choice, accountability
Denver schools' reform strategy improved achievement dramatically, concludes a University of Colorado Denver study. "The overall effects...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 15, 20221 min read
1 comment


Why they left district schools -- and aren't coming back
Seven parents tell Washington Post Magazine why they left district-run public schools for private school or homeschooling. "Since 2019,...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 5, 20223 min read
3 comments

Florida's special-ed students are doing very well: Is it choice?
In Florida, which pioneered school choice for special-needs students more than 20 years ago, students with disabilities are doing very...
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 2, 20221 min read
11 comments


Gone girls and boys
District-run public schools lost nine percent of enrollment between spring 2021 and spring 2022, concludes School Disrupted by Tyton...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 19, 20222 min read
3 comments
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