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Coloring Book Publisher Gets Death Threats



So, it's come to this:


The author-publisher of "The Tea Party Coloring Book…
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Added by Ben Boychuk on September 30, 2010 at 7:01pm — 2 Comments

Waiting for 'Superman': The Wait is Over





This is a media advisory The Heartland Institute sent out to education reporters earlier Thursday:



The highly touted education reform documentary Waiting for ‘Superman’ opens Friday at theaters in Los Angeles and New York, with a wider release scheduled for later in the fall. With the film receiving support from Paramount Pictures and Walden Media, and with attention from Oprah Winfrey, school reform has finally “gone…

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Added by Ben Boychuk on September 23, 2010 at 6:17pm — No Comments

The Parents are Revolting!



A small but tenacious group of parents in the Los Angeles suburb of Tujunga is hoping a new California law will be able to accomplish what years of frustrating pleas and appeals to the bureaucracy has not: Transform a failing, chronically unsafe middle school into a place where kids can learn without fear of random violence.



These parents are using California's parent empowerment law -- aka "the parent trigger" -- to petition the Los Angeles… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on September 3, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Ignore the Law of Unintended Consequences at Your Peril (Part 1,304,002 in a Continuing Series)

As government programs go, "Cars for Clunkers" was a lemon. Unless, of course, you judge a program's success by Congress rushing to shift additional billions in "stimulus" funds to meet supposedly unexpected demand -- in that case it was a monster hit for the ages.



The program, which offered up to $4,500 toward purchasing a new car, was supposed to last a few months. Its funding was exhausted after just four days. That spurred Congress to appropriate another $2 billion from the $814… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on August 25, 2010 at 12:00pm — 4 Comments

Teachers Unions Versus Transparency (Or: "Shut Up," They Explained.)

If newspapers are indeed dying, at least a few seem willing to die fighting. Consider the Los Angeles Times (ward of the bankrupt Tribune Co.), which on Sunday published a surprisingly bold piece of investigative journalism on arguably the most pressing subject of our day: Public education. The story should serve as an example of how a cultural institution -- even one as embattled as the… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on August 18, 2010 at 4:21pm — 1 Comment

Pelosi: Investigate Those Mosque Opponents

Contrary to what you may read at the Daily Beast, Salon, Talking Points Memo, and… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on August 18, 2010 at 12:17pm — 1 Comment

Bell's Toll is Progressivism's Legacy

Surely you've heard about Robert Rizzo, the former city manager of the relatively impoverished city of Bell in Southern California? Rizzo is, in all likelihood, relaxing on his horse farm in Washington State. But even if we can't confront Rizzo directly, we can figure out what his tenure represents. Is anyone really surprised?

Added by Ben Boychuk on August 11, 2010 at 2:41am — No Comments

House Passes 'Edujobs' Bill, Unions Rejoice

The House of Representatives interrupted its summer break Tuesday to vote on the $26 billion Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act. The House approved the controversial bill, 247-161, mostly along party lines. President Obama signed it immediately.


This gift to the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers was expected, unfortunately. The U.S. Senate passed the bill last week, after Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe (R) and Susan Collins (R) broke with…
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Added by Ben Boychuk on August 10, 2010 at 7:13pm — No Comments

Trouble in the Big Easy: NEA vs. the Obama Administration

While most of us were eating burgers, watching fireworks and, I hope, engaging in a bit of patriotic reading as well, the National Education Association was convening in New Orleans for its annual meeting. And, as the New York Times reports, the nation's largest teachers union is not happy with President Obama. No. Not… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on July 5, 2010 at 12:30pm — 1 Comment

Self-evident Truth vs. 'Progress'

Calvin Coolidge is remembered, incorrectly, for not saying very much. But the 30th president delivered one of the finest analyses of the Declaration of Independence on the 150th anniversary celebration of independence in 1926. It's a long speech. You should read the whole thing. In the context of the ongoing argument between "conservatives" and "progressives," however, one part is worth…
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Added by Ben Boychuk on July 3, 2010 at 10:39am — 11 Comments

'The Second Day of July, 1776, Will Be the Most Memorable Epocha in the History of America...'



Independence Day may be my favorite holiday. Sure, I love Christmas and Thanksgiving, and Easter and St. Patrick's Day are not without their charms. But America's birthday is a holiday like no other. Over the past eight years or so, with two exceptions, we've helped put on a large block party, complete with games, food, strong drink, music, patriotic readings, and, when the sun goes down,… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on July 2, 2010 at 7:29pm — No Comments

Feeling Safer? The No-Fly List Snares A 6-Year-Old

Six-year-old Harry Buttle Alyssa Thomas is on the U.S. government's "No Fly" list. According to a local Fox affiliate report, the Westlake, Ohio girl's parents learned she was on the list during a recent trip from Cleveland to Minneapolis.


"We were, like, puzzled," said Dr. Santhosh Thomas, Alyssa's weirdly inarticulate father. "I'm like, well, she's kinda six-years-old and…
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Added by Ben Boychuk on June 27, 2010 at 9:26pm — 1 Comment

The case against California's "Global Warming Solutions Act"

This week in our Sacramento Bee column, editorial writer Pia Lopez and I argue the merits of suspending California's AB 32. The 2006 law, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) touted as his signal policy accomplishment, imposes a "cap and trade" system to regulate pollution and requiring all manner of rules on how Californians may live.


Well, as it happens, the Legislature passed AB 32…
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Added by Ben Boychuk on June 16, 2010 at 6:14pm — No Comments

'Merit Pay' Failed in Chicago -- Next Time Try the Real Thing

A study of Chicago’s merit pay system is getting a lot of play in the education press, mostly with emphasis on critics who are crowing, “See! See! Paying for performance doesn’t work! Merit pay is a waste of time and resources!”



Well, hold on a second. Diane Ravitch's protestations notwithstanding, education is not immune to the laws of economics, the inducements of carrots or the sting of… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on June 3, 2010 at 8:16pm — 24 Comments

Our Mushy "Common Core" Standards: A Short Introduction

The final draft of the Common Core Standards for math and English was released Wednesday amid great fanfare, and far, far away from Washington, DC.


But the truth is, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers could have unveiled the thing on Venus --…
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Added by Ben Boychuk on June 3, 2010 at 12:40am — No Comments

Hentoff: 'Can Free Speech Be Redistributed?'

Nat Hentoff worries about Elena Kagan's peculiar view of the First Amendment: "I know that a solicitor general is required to argue the legal positions of the administration that hired her — but to this extent?"


Hentoff is referring to Kagan's curious argument before the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. FEC, in which she suggested the federal government could censor pamphlets, but not…
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Added by Ben Boychuk on May 26, 2010 at 6:00pm — No Comments

California's Shoddy Global Warming Law Springs a Leak

I wrote about the dire economic consequences California's "Global Warming Solutions Act" would have on California's economy for City Journal's website in February. At the time, I argued Gov. Schwarzengger would be insane not to suspend the law in the face of record unemployment and a sluggish economic recovery, noting a report by the state Air Resources Board that predicted “While climate policy yields new types…
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Added by Ben Boychuk on May 25, 2010 at 3:45pm — 4 Comments

Time to Reform Teacher Tenure in California

I have an op-ed today in the Los Angeles Daily News making the case that teacher tenure reforms in California are essential. Colorado recently passed a tenure reform bill that may or may not do the job legislators intended, but it nevertheless… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on May 25, 2010 at 2:15pm — No Comments

Reading the Tea (Party) Leaves in Tuesday's Elections

Tuesday's primary (and some general) elections across the nation confirmed that we live in interesting times. Although there is often a temptation to see such events as more significant than they really are,actions do spring from motivations, and it's possible for astute observers to discern those underlying thoughts and… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on May 20, 2010 at 12:44pm — 1 Comment

'Public Works Are Hard To Do' and Other Statements of the Obvious

Matt Yglesias, commenting over the weekend on this Harold Meyerson piece about the (predictably) unstimulating effects of the Stimulus on infrastructure, makes an observation that might strike some readers here as... a start. Or perhaps as frustrating: "I think we need some… Continue

Added by Ben Boychuk on May 18, 2010 at 10:00pm — 1 Comment

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