Education Review: School Choice Can Close the Achievement Gap

If you are having trouble viewing this email, view it online.

IN THIS EDITION

What to Watch Alabama decides not to use Common Core standards. Number of the Week Students in Florida are participating in private school choice programs. Quote of the Week Artur Davis speaks about school choice. Don't Miss Common Core standards include unproved math programs.

School Choice: Key to Improving Hispanic High School Graduation Rate By Israel Ortega Last week was National School Choice Week, a great way to elevate and promote education reform while calling attention to our country’s educational crisis. School choice, coupled with other sensible policy measures, has been proven to be effective in closing the racial achievement gap. This is precisely why Hispanic organizations should welcome increased choice for Hispanic families when it comes to improving our education system. The problems with American education are especially pronounced among Hispanics: Latino students lag behind white peers in high school graduation rates across the country. Meanwhile, California’s Hispanic population will be the state’s largest ethnic group in 2013. You don’t need to be a demographer or even a political scientist to recognize that our country is facing an educational crisis unless the Latino high school graduation rate increases as the Hispanic population continues to grow. This is precisely why every education policymaker should be compelled to rethink whether years of increased federal spending and authority on education policy is the best course forward. Bold education reform policies are needed that seek to empower parents in order to increase accountability and transparency in our broken education system. One of the best ways to do this is through school choice. Read more about school choice and how it can improve graduation rates for all. >> What To Watch Alabama Bows Out of Common Core Testing Consortia Last week, Alabama pulled out of “the two big consortia that are designing assessments for the Common Core State Standards,” reports Education Week.

Number of the Week 76,000 Students in Florida benefit from private school choice—the most of any state. And nearly a quarter of a million students nationwide participate in private school choice. See The Alliance for School Choice Yearbook 2012-2013   Quote of the Week “This [school choice] is not only an issue that we ought to care about as just people and folks who care about the world. It’s an issue conservatives ought to care about because it’s so rooted in our notion of freedom and liberty and mobility.” – Former U.S. Congressman Artur Davis, speaking at The Heritage Foundation for National School Choice Week

Don’t Miss Common Core Leading Schools to Adopt Unproved Math Programs “Despite the lack of supporting research for the approach [student-centered learning], trillions of taxpayer dollars were spent on implementing it across the nation. Despite its grim results, trillions more will be spent on it via the Common Core initiatives,” writes Laurie Rogers for Education News.

About The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute -- a think tank -- whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

The Heritage Foundation  |  214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002  |  202.546.4400