by Jeff Bryant | Sep 15, 2016 | Blog, Education
Presidential candidate Donald Trump likely just handed the charter school industry the worst sort of favor. In unveiling his education plan, the Republican candidate proposed a $20 billion federal block grant to allow states to give vouchers to low-income students to...
by Jeff Bryant | Sep 8, 2016 | Blog, Education
As parents and students reenter public schools for a new year, they're hearing a lot about "school choice." Having "choice," they're told, lets parents send their kids to schools other than their assigned neighborhood school, such as a charter school, a magnet school,...
by Jeff Bryant | Sep 1, 2016 | Blog, Education
The nation's increasingly polarized political divide is often described as a clash between a right and a left, but in the education policy arena, it's increasingly clear the clash is between a bottom and a top. That's a conclusion you should come away with after...
by Jeff Bryant | Aug 25, 2016 | Blog, Education
Sometimes it takes a funnyman to make sense. Earlier this week, British comedian John Oliver devoted a “Back to School” segment on his HBO program "Last Week Tonight" to examining the rapidly growing charter school industry and what these schools are doing with our...
by Jeff Bryant | Aug 18, 2016 | Blog, Education
"You can exhale now," the headline in Salon reassures, because "kids have more money than ever to spend on school stuff this year." The reason for Salon's celebratory tone is that a national survey every year by the National Retail Federation finds that preteens...
by Jeff Bryant | Aug 11, 2016 | Blog, Education
In a political season that's been dominated by populism it should come as no surprise that a grassroots uprising is having an effect on education policy as well. Two recent events showcase exactly how the populist fervor in the nation is redrawing the education policy...