“School choice” on The Daily Caller

One of the provisions that is set to expire in January if Congress doesn’t extend the Bush tax cuts is a tax break that helps children attend the school of their choice. Known as the Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, this education IRA was incorporated into the sweeping Bush tax cut plan a decade ago. It expanded a college-only savings program to allow parents to also save for K-12 education expenses tax-free, including private school tuition. (more)

Kevin P. Chavous, the chairman of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, today released an open letter to President Barack Obama regarding school choice. His letter, reprinted below, was also published as a full page advertisement in Saturday’s New York Times. For more information, visit www.RevolutionInEducation.org (more)

Over the next several weeks, 54.4 million children will go back to school. For many children, the start of school marks the ceremonial end of summer, and a return to the excitement of a new school year. (more)

Chicago government schools are a disaster.  Only 13% of 8th graders are proficient in math, 17%  proficient in reading, the high school graduation rate is a little over 50%, and 6% of kids go on to get college degrees.  In March, the Illinois Senate led by Reverend Senator James Meeks (D- Chicago) passed legislation to provide vouchers for kids in the worst Chicago public elementary schools to attend private schools.  When the measure reached the House in May, Chicago Democrat Representative Ken Dunkin pleaded: “I’m begging you. Help me help kids in my district.” (more)

I am a pastor and father living in South Phoenix. (more)

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program provides scholarships for more than 1,700 District children to attend schools of their choice. But the Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress are phasing it out. Students currently on scholarship will be allowed to continue through graduation, but no new students may enter the program. This despite an increase in annual federal education spending to $77 billion. (more)

On Tuesday evening, the Senate rejected an amendment to reauthorize the Opportunity Scholarships program, which provides private school tuition vouchers to 1,300 poor D.C. children. (more)

In 1954, a unanimous Supreme Court rendered its opinion in Brown v. Board of Education, effectively closing a tragic chapter in American public education that had confined disadvantaged minority students in substandard schools. Yet today—more than 50 years later—the Obama administration has erected new roadblocks on the path of equal opportunity paved by this landmark decision. (more)

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With CPAC attendees descending on Washington this week, with a new conservative manifesto being penned to protect the Constitution, and with Tea Parties being planned for the spring, I find myself hoping and praying that such small-government fervor infiltrates the ranks of education reformers. (more)

“We have broken through the stalemate between the left and right by launching a national competition on improving our schools.” —President Barack Obama, State of the Union address, Jan. 27, 2010. (more)

Sometimes trouble strikes unannounced.  Witness Pearl Harbor or 9/11.  Other times it arrives after fair warnings, gathering like storms on the horizon. (more)