Trump Budget Would Defund Two Failed Progressive School Experiments

Education reformists are, once again, wailing and gnashing teeth as the Trump administration’s proposed budget for 2018 eliminates a number of programs funded through the Department of Education. Two of the programs were pet projects of the former Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and, aside from serving no meaningful purpose, raised the ire of conservative grassroots education activists as simply furthering the nanny state agenda. The proposed budget would eliminate funding for 21st Century Learning Centers to the tune of $1.16 billion. The Trump Administration explained the proposed budget cut as follows: This program makes formula grants to States, which

How a GOP Congress Quietly Imposed Common Core on the Entire Country

After a long absence, education policy has reclaimed a prominent role in the national and state campaign discourse.   What’s more, parents — not a particular party or candidate — are driving the debate. For their part, the GOP presidential candidates are struggling to grasp what’s going on. Apparently, understanding that numerous governors and ex-governors (e.g., Mike Pence, Chris Christie, John Kasich, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush) doomed their presidential aspirations by failing to push back against Common Core and the federal government, these candidates now routinely denounce Common Core in their stump speeches. But do they really understand how federal

Obama Administration Reveals GOP Leaders’ Betrayal on Common Core in Ed Bill

Anti-Common Core activists tried for months to warn Congress that the new federal education bill (the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA) was a disaster that would cement, not overturn, the odious progressive-education philosophies of the Obama Administration. Except for 64 House members (click here to see how your member voted) and 12 senators (click here to see how your senators voted) who were brave enough to buck Republican leadership, their warnings were dismissed. Now comes confirmation that the activists were dead on — and that Republican leadership, including Sen. Lamar Alexander, Rep. John Kline, and House Speaker Paul Ryan,