10/3/2017 — In a recent news release, Governor Terry McAuliffe heralded the fact that 86 percent of Virginia schools were fully accredited – “a record high” for his administration and a five point improvement over last year. He neglected to mention that 88 schools failed accreditation – a 203 percent increase...

10/11/2010 – Did a federal program encouraging the use of scientifically-based reading methods lead to a decline in students classified as having a “specific learning disability?” That’s the implication of a story in Education Week, citing U.S. Department of Education statistics showing a 10.5 percent drop in students so identified – from...

4/25/2018 — “So there’s a reading circle and all the kids have a book and they’re passing the book kid to kid and they passed it to me and I couldn’t read.” That’s a dyslexic Neil Bush, describing the moment his mother took on the challenge of literacy and reading....

2/2/2013 — Virginia this week joined the rest of the nation in celebrating “National School Choice Week” from a special position: As one of 11 states with an education choice program offering new options to students in need of them. For the first time, private donors who want to help children...

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; But in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” ■ Michaelangelo 9/6/2012 – A recent criticism of K-12 education in the United States has been that, on international exams like...

If the evidence showed that taking a particular medication actually made the disease worse, would you keep on taking it? Of course not. But a recent paper, Juvenile Justice Reform, co-issued by Justice Fellowship, Right On Crime, and the Thomas Jefferson Institute makes the case that, when it comes to Virginia’s juvenile justice system,...

1/7/2014 – Language used in the “immigration wars” has been rough. One American leader claimed that incoming immigrants were too stupid to learn English and represented a political threat to America, noting that the newcomers “will soon so outnumber us” that “even our Government will become precarious.” And he complained of...

1/22/2010 – As Governor Bob McDonnell settles into his new office, counties and cities throughout the state continue their annual budget drafting process in earnest. Local governments rely heavily on state spending. Indeed, about 52 percent of the state budget goes to our counties and cities and these local jurisdictions will have...

3/31/2017 — As an undergraduate political science major, the grounds upon which a Supreme Court Justice should be considered was made clear to me in my Constitutional Law course: Integrity, experience, temperament, and intelligence. One thing not to be judged was politics. Not to be asked were “How would you rule if…”...

12/6/2010 – Charter schools are independent public schools given additional flexibility from regulations, in exchange for greater accountability in outcomes. If they don’t produce, they are shut down. Bring the subject up with most school board members in Virginia, and the question will be: “If providing flexibility is good, why don’t...