The Week in Review / Educational Policy Institute

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Why Isn't Education a Left-Right Issue?

March 14, 2008

Alex Usher, Vice President, Educational Policy Institute

These are curious days, indeed. Last week’s edition of the Spectator told us how the British Conservative Party – yes, the one that gave us Margaret Thatcher – was thinking of using the social democratic paradise of Sweden as a model for the development of its own education policy (Click here for the article).

Was this just a case of the Tories’ modernizing, centrist leader David Cameron “doing a Blair,” and borrowing policy from the other side of the policy spectrum? Well, no. It turns out that since 1992, social democratic Sweden actually has a highly-developed and well-functioning system of school vouchers. Any group of parents unhappy with the quality of local state schools can apply to start their own. One in eight schools is now just such an independent state school, and collectively they educate close to ten percent of the nations’ students. READ MORE...

School districts had total expenditures of approximately $473.9 billion in fiscal year 2004, including about $403.4 billion in current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education.

Source: United States Department of Education





	Smaller classes don’t close learning gap, study finds Jay Matthews, Washington Post For 20 years, a large study of class size in Tennessee, known as Project STAR, has raised hopes that reducing the number of children in inner-city classrooms to 17 or fewer would yield significant increases in achievement. It was by far the most authoritative finding in favor of reducing class size and was generally considered one of the most important educational studies of its time. Science education in the spotlight Laura Devaney, eSchool News As schools prepare for the debut this fall of science testing under No Child Left Behind, educators and science advocates are calling for renewed awareness of what many say is a national crisis in science education.	Panel vows no private school vouchers for dropouts Gary Scharrer, Houston Chronicle Texas won't use private school vouchers to educate high school dropouts, a state education council insisted Tuesday while adopting a strategic plan aimed at increasing graduation rates. California Democrats propose oil tax to offset expected school cuts Associated Press, San Diego Union-Tribune Democrats in the state Assembly on Wednesday proposed additional taxes on oil companies as a way to raise $1.2 billion a year for education, which faces billions in cuts as California struggles with a deep budget deficit.


	Historically black colleges are struggling, educators tell Congress Halimah Abdullah, The Kansas City Star Financially strapped historically black colleges across the country are at a crossroads. Cutbacks in federal and state spending and competition from mainstream institutions for the best students, educators and academic programs have taken a toll on schools that were created to educate African-American students after slavery, said presidents from some of the nation's top historically black colleges on Thursday.	Missouri bill would bar illegal immigrants from college Lee Logan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Public colleges and universities would be barred from enrolling illegal immigrants under a bill given first-round approval Wednesday by the House. The proposal would require colleges to certify that they have not knowingly enrolled illegal immigrants before they can receive state money. Population shift sends universities scrambling Valerie Strauss, Washington Post Colleges and universities are anxiously taking steps to address a projected drop in the number of high school graduates in much of the nation starting next year and a dramatic change in the racial and ethnic makeup of the student population, a phenomenon expected to transform the country's higher education landscape, stated educators and analysts.


	Europe’s education union CNN Launched this month, the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education, or EQAR, will be a watchdog for teaching standards, intended to make sure students -- especially those based outside the continent -- looking to attend a European institution are able to gauge the quality of the program on offer. Vietnam works toward quality tertiary education VietNameNet Bridge The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) says improving tertiary education to reach regional and international standards is a goal they are working hard to achieve.	Education advocates want new reform bill Helen Bunting, The Santiago Times Student and teacher federations, parent groups and other education officials will take a letter to President Michelle Bachelet this Friday asking for the education reform bill currently before Congress to be modified once again. In light of the recent school subsidy scandal at the Education Ministry, they want to change the bill to include reforms to the finance system. Minority varsities get immunity Charu Sudan Kasturi, The Telegraph India is redefining minority education institutions to exempt Aligarh Muslim University and some other varsities from government control over fees, admission quotas and administration. The government has decided to insulate universities set up and administered by minorities from long-pending regulations on private sector higher education.


	Tories win first vote to block RESP bill Bill Curry, The Globe and Mail A government budget motion that would spike an opposition education savings plan passed its first hurdle yesterday, as MPs voted 124-87 in favour. Quebec to place cap on ancillary fees Nick Kyonka, The Charlatan (Quebec) Quebec’s Ministry of Education gave students more control over how universities spend their money last month with the announcement of a new plan for regulating ancillary fees.	New law permits parents to appeal school board rulings Jeff Rud, Times Colonist Parents unhappy with significant school board decisions affecting their child are now able to appeal such rulings to another level, Education Minister Shirley Bond announced Friday (030708). B.C. rejects call for ESL regulations Janet Steffenhagen, Canwest News Service; Times Colonist The man hired by the B.C. government to find ways of improving private post-secondary education says he's disappointed his call for more regulation -- especially of ESL schools -- has been rejected.


	Program seeks to retain teachers Karen Hodge, The West The State Government is ploughing $11 million into a pilot mentoring program for first-year science and maths teachers in a bid to keep them in the classroom. Group wants poorer parents to get funds Jane Metlikovec, Melbourne Herald Sun The Government pays families earning less than $41,318 a year, an Education Maintenance Allowance of up to $430 to help cover school costs. But under current arrangements, half of it—up to $215—goes directly to the school.	White flight leaves system segregated by race Anna Patty, The Sydney Morning Herald The NSW Secondary Principals Council conducted a confidential survey which raises serious concerns about "white flight" undermining the public education system and threatening social cohesion. Some teachers and principals have described it as “de facto apartheid”. Funding boost for primary schools Jewel Topsfield, The Age Primary schools will get a big boost in federal funding from next year to counter a backlash from principals who say they have been left out of the education revolution.


	Foundations for Success: Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel National Mathematics Advisory Panel The National Mathematics Advisory Panel presented its final report to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education, regarding the current status mathematics curricula as it is taught and received in the classroom. The report includes cognitive studies of how children learn, ideological approaches to mathematics teaching, and a final review of existing math inclusive programs such as Reading First. Download and View PDF Here World data on education, Sixth edition 2006/07 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) The sixth edition of World Data on Education (WDE) contains the profiles of 161 education systems. The major part of the profiles included in the previous edition of WDE (2003) have been updated, mainly using the National Reports on the Development of Education presented at the forty-seventh session of the International Conference on Education (Geneva, September 2004), supplemented with information from a wide range of official sources and recent reports. View Report Here


The Educational Policy Institute is an international non-profit think tank dedicated to the study of educational opportunity. The Week in Review is a weekly publication that highlights the top news stories, reports and statistics related to academic preparation and access and success in the US, Canada, and beyond. The publication also features a commentary written by either President Watson Scott Swail, EdD or Vice-President Alex Usher. To submit comments, news releases, or submissions, please email Dr. Watson Scott Swail at wswail@educationalpolicy.org or call (757) 430-2200.