The Congressional Budget Office has applied a risk-appropriate discount rate to student loans based on what private lenders would offer for a similar level of risk. In contrast to the government's current accounting practices, which show student loans making a "profit" for the government of 9 percent, the CBO's alternate -- but more accurate -- analysis found that between…

These days, freedom is under fire in many ways. It’s nice to be able to report that in one area, at least, freedom is marching in the right direction: education. “Indiana’s highest court ruled unanimously in Meredith v. Pence that the Choice Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers to low-income and middle-income families in the Hoosier State, is constitutional,” the…

Pittsburgh high schooler Suzy Weiss has a 4.5 GPA, an SAT score of 2120 (out of a maximum 2400), and a slew of rejections from Ivy League colleges. But unlike most unsuccessful applicants, Weiss didn’t accept her rejection meekly. Instead, she penned a sarcastic open letter to those who spurned her — and got it published in the Wall Street Journal. Weiss’s letter…

For most 4-year-olds, early childhood education means any one of a number of nurturing preschool experiences: a small neighborhood program, a church-based day care, a private preschool or early education at home. Parents have many options. At the same time, more parents work from home and take care of their children. Many mothers want the most time possible at home in…

During his State of the Union address, President Obama proclaimed that "every dollar we invest in high-quality early childhood education can save more than seven dollars later on, by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime." Sounds impressive, but that "return on investment" figure reflects a lot of wishful thinking. It appears to…

Dire predictions about the fate of certain government programs hardly have been in short supply as sequestration-related budget cuts loomed. It was hardly a surprise, then, when Education Secretary Arne Duncan got in on the act. “It just means a lot more children will not get the kinds of services and opportunities they need, and as many as 40,000 teachers could lose…

No doubt about it, President Obama wants to spend even more on government preschool programs, including a "significant expansion" of the federal Early Head Start program. He called for it in his State of the Union Address, then traveled to Atlanta two days later to second his own motion. Specifically, the president wants Early Head Start to enroll a greater number of…

The high cost of teacher pensions looms over the American public school system, but some defenders of the system would prefer that citizens not know that. Pensions for teachers and other government employees are much more generous, on average, than the retirement benefits received by comparable private-sector workers. This is beyond serious dispute among finance…

"Outside of its legitimate functions, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector of the economy," Ronald Reagan once said. Given the fact that markets outperform monopolies in every aspect of our lives, why do we consign something as important as education to government-run institutions? The results of our assignment-by-ZIP code…

Detroit Public Schools has some of the lowest graduation rates in the country. Single-digit literacy levels plague the city's schools. On the Trial Urban School District assessment, an evaluation of the nation's largest school districts by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, the problems facing the district's school system become…

More than 200 organizations across the country are staging some 3,600 events to mark School Choice Week. Many grateful parents, however, have reason to celebrate every week. Just ask Joseph Kelley. A single father living in Washington, D.C., Mr. Kelley was shocked when his son Rashawn failed the first grade. Worse, his teachers didn’t even realize that he knew how to…

Pennsylvania parents can expect to shell out $10,500 per year on private-sector preschool. In Philadelphia, the price can range from the $4,500 per year for full-day preschool at St. Francis Xavier School to more than $12,000 at the elite Gladwyne Montessori School. Head Start, the government-run preschool program, costs federal taxpayers $8,000 per child annually.…

Last year didn’t hold great news for District of Columbia public schools. Less than 20 percent of eighth-graders were proficient in either math or reading. Only 61 percent of District high school students made it to graduation. Any city with levels of poverty like Washington (as many as 70 percent of students are low-income) is facing struggles that the suburban…

What is it about the Head Start program that prevents presumably responsible adults from doing what’s best for poor children? What prompts this question is the reaction to a scientifically rigorous evaluation of Head Start released last month. Conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, the study demonstrates (once again) that this Great Society program just…

Bill the engineer wants to become a teacher. He has 10 years of experience working in the engineering division of Lockheed Martin, and he'd like to share some of his extensive knowledge with high school students in Northern Virginia, where he lives. He'd prefer to take a couple of hours each day to teach a class on physics or calculus, which would enable him to stay in…