This article appeared at Reason Magazine and was partially published in one of our earlier blogs. As families continue to defect from government-managed K-12, teachers unions are tightening their squeeze on the Democratic Party. As back-to-school week wheezes into gear for the nation's 54 million or so children between the ages of five and 17, a startling, post-COVID reality is becoming more apparent, even if the implications are still too big to process. It is this: Though the U.S. population continues to grow, the number of kids attending public K-12 schools will likely never again reach its 2019 peak. The rise of homeschooling—from around 2.8 percent of the school-aged population … [Read more...]
Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) – the true cost of K-12 education in Washington State
There is a national organization called NCES – National Center for Education Statistics (https://nces.ed.gov) that tracks education data across the United States. They have a recommended method for identifying the true cost of K-12 education...and the State of Washington (OSPI) does NOT conform to that recommended standard. Specifically, NCES says there are four (4) cost factors in determining what the true cost of educating a student in public schools is: State contributions to a school district Local levy funds Local capital bonds Debt service costs Washington State (OSPI) only includes state contributions and local levies. They ignore capital bond and … [Read more...]
Washington State levy and bond data
If you love data and facts please add this site to your "must have" sites: http://www.schooldataproject.com This website was created by Jeff Heckathorn. Jeff has a passion for data and has been spending huge amounts of time gathering and dissecting data regarding Washington State school levys and bonds. We've been corresponding for months on this and today we bring to you some of the materials he has shared. Feel free to go straight to his site. We will provide updates and articles as we get them. You'll find information about those that passed and those that failed in February 2021 "special elections". This article will be updated as new information becomes available. Here is … [Read more...]
Study: Obama’s Common Core ‘Worst Large-Scale Educational Failure in 40 Years’?
In an article at a site called Neon Nettle they share information from a study.The gist of the studies findings? "Researchers, who conducted a study into the impact of former President Obama's Common Core State Standards on schools, declared the teaching practices to be "worst large-scale educational failure in 40 years." For your reading pleasure here's the article: The study examined the effects of Common Core on school choice and found the Obama-era K-12 educational reform demonstrated sharp drops in academic performance. Ted Rebarber of AccountabilityWorks co-authored the study with Cato Institute’s Neal McCluskey, who previously led another study, titled … [Read more...]
MapEd – What is it?
What is MapEd? It's a website that has the key indicators of the condition of education in the United States. These indicators summarize important developments and trends using the latest statistics and are updated as data become available. Indicators: Spotlights Population Characteristics Introduction Attainment Economic Outcomes Demographics Participation in Education Elementary and Secondary Education Postsecondary Education This is a website you can use to gather all sort of information that may be helpful in understanding who the residents are. How do you use it? Open the page On the right hand side look at the data choices (there is a … [Read more...]