April 25, 2005
Choices in Education: 2005 Progress Report
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1848)
Parental choice is spreading: 11 states and the District of Columbia have publicly funded voucher or tax credit programs, 40 states and D.C. have charter ...
March 9, 2005
Small Steps Toward Smarter Education Spending
By Krista Kafer and Jonathan Butcher
(WebMemo #679)
The President's budget cuts in education are deserved.
September 8, 2004
Girl Power: Why Girls Don't Need the Women's Educational Equity Act
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #563)
Girls don't need an Educational Equity Act to succeed.
July 6, 2004
No Child Left Behind: Where Do We Go From Here?
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1775)
Two years after its enactment, implementation of the No Child Left Behind law proceeds by trial and error. Congress missed the opportunity to enact significant ...
May 4, 2004
A Head Start for Poor Children?
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1755)
Since 1965, taxpayers have spent more than $66 billion on Head Start to provide comprehensive health, social, educational, and mental health services to 21 million ...
April 26, 2004
Refocusing Higher Education Aid on Those Who Need It
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1753)
During the current Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization, Congress should restore the HEA's original intent by awarding taxpayer subsidies and grants to those students who ...
April 15, 2004
Frequently Asked Questions about Education in America
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #478)
Answers to basic questions educational funding, achievement, and choice in America.
March 19, 2004
School Choice in 2003: An Old Concept Gains New Life
By Krista Kafer
(Legal Memorandum #9)
No one school can serve all students equally well. Ultimately, school choice is about enabling all parents to enroll their children in the public, public ...
January 26, 2004
Congress Establishes First Federal Voucher Program for D.C. Students
By Jonathan Butcher and Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #404)
Congress passed the first federal voucher program for students in the District of Columbia as part of the 2004 appropriations omnibus.
November 18, 2003
Don't Over Regulate D.C. Vouchers
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #371)
Congress has the opportunity to give low-income parents in the District of Columbia scholarships of up to $7,500 to enroll their children in a private ...
October 29, 2003
What Congress Can Do to Get a Better Head Start
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1701)
Since its inception, Head Start has enrolled over 21 million children at a cost of over $66 billion, but there is little evidence of long-term ...
September 3, 2003
How Members of Congress Practice School Choice
By Krista Kafer and Jonathan Butcher
(Backgrounder #1684)
Members of Congress will soon have the opportunity to grant low-income District of Columbia families the chance to choose where their children attend school. If ...
July 22, 2003
D.C. Scholarship Proposal Would Give Students Access to Quality Schools
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1671)
Some of the poorest performing public schools in America can be found in the nation's capital. Despite per-pupil expenditures of more than $11,000, 94 percent ...
July 17, 2003
The Promise of No Child Left Behind
By Krista Kafer
(Testimony )
It has been about 18 months since the passage of the No Child Left Behind bill, and much has happened.
July 10, 2003
Progress on School Choice in the States
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1639)
In 2003, Congress will consider new choice legislation as well as the reauthorization of several key federal education programs, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education ...
July 10, 2003
D.C. Scholarship Program Offers Needed Reforms
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #316)
The D.C. Parental Choice Incentive Act would enable low-income parents in the District of Columbia to enroll their children in private schools through a scholarship ...
April 29, 2003
Parental Choice in Education for Special Needs Students
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #234)
During floor consideration of H.R. 1350, the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Congress should heed the Administration's recommendation to provide disabled ...
November 5, 2002
Special Education 101
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #169)
Comprehensive primer on the history and future of special education programs.
September 10, 2002
Making Good on Promises to Increase Funding for Special Education
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1585)
Members of Congress often give lip service to their desire to increase funding for special education, yet in legislative decisions, Congress continues to siphon off ...
August 9, 2002
Education Statistics
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #134)
A compilation of national education statistics.
July 17, 2002
Education 101
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #127)
Basic national education statistics.
July 17, 2002
District Students Need Better Schools Not More Schooling
By Krista Kafer
(Testimony )
Research shows that high standards, effective teaching and curricula, an effective testing regimen, usable data, effective remediation, strong administrative leadership, and increased parental choices improve ...
June 28, 2002
AmeriCorps: Still a Bad Idea for Citizen Service
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D. and Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1564)
Just when terrible events have revived the national spirit and refocused Americans on the importance of family, friends, and faith, it would be wrong to ...
June 19, 2002
Implementation Watch: Students' Rights Under the No Child Left Behind Act
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #113)
States and school districts must implement the school choice provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act at the beginning of the new school year. ...
April 12, 2002
What the Harvard/Mathematica Study Says About Vouchers and Low-Income African-American Students
By Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., and Krista Kafer
(Center for Data Analysis Report #02-03)
Research reveals that voucher-style approaches offer the greater satisfaction among parents who use those vouchers to send their children to a school of choice.
March 13, 2002
Federal Law Requires Changing Maryland's Academic Assessment Program
By Krista Kafer
(Testimony )
Federal Law Requires Changing Maryland's Academic Assessment Program
February 6, 2002
Maryland Needs a Strong Public Charter School Law
By Krista Kafer
(Testimony )
The Maryland Senate can take the first steps to rebuilding Maryland's schools by enacting a strong public charter school law.
December 13, 2001
A Small but Costly Step Toward Reform: The Conference Education Bill
By Krista Kafer
(WebMemo #66)
Although the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization contains the major themes of the Bush No Child Left Behind plan, it is only a modest ...
November 30, 2001
Comments on the Harkin Amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
By Krista Kafer and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #61)
With Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mitch Daniels predicting deficits until at least fiscal year 2005, the Harkin amendment would cost taxpayers an ...
October 11, 2001
Wasting Education Dollars: The Women's Educational Equity Act
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1490)
As Congress continues its work on reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in conference committee, improving the academic performance of economically disadvantaged children ...
October 2, 2001
Target Education Dollars to Children with the Greatest Need
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1481)
The need to target resources to critical education priorities could not be more clear. Consolidation will ensure that pressing issues such as the achievement gap ...
July 3, 2001
Still Leaving Children Behind: The House and Senate Education Bills
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1454)
Over the years, the increasing burden on taxpayers has not resulted in improved academic achievement. Future increases should not be made until Congress can show ...
June 11, 2001
Why More Money Will Not Solve America's Education Crisis
By Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., and Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1448)
Rather than bolster funding for programs that have failed to increase student achievement, House and Senate conferees on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary ...
May 8, 2001
Why Education Reform Without "Straight A's" Is Not Real Reform
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1436)
A Straight A's provision in the ESEA authorizing legislation would enable the states to apply federal money where it will be the most effective.
April 23, 2001
B+ for H.R. 1's Education Reforms
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1434)
If the House, however, succumbs to pressure and substantially weakens the bill to maintain the status quo, more children will pass through public schools without ...
April 23, 2001
A Failing Grade for S. 1, the Senate Education Committee Bill
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1433)
The Senate can and should do a better job of improving educational opportunities for America's children than is embodied in the legislative vehicle approved by ...
March 15, 2001
A Guide to the NAEP Academic Achievement Test
By Krista Kafer
(Backgrounder #1419)
Under President Bush's education plan, No Child Left Behind, federal funding would be linked to whether states actually succeed in this endeavor, as measured by ...
November 10, 2009
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