15 Questions Maryland's Teachers Should Ask Their Unions

By Tom Neumark
Published on Monday, November 06, 2006
It is election season again, and across the state local teachers’ unions are campaigning for the candidates featured on their Apple Ballot, which they will distribute to large numbers of voters this November. The Apple Ballot enjoys a somewhat privileged place in the minds of Maryland’s voters because of its claims to represent the views of teachers. But the union’s interests do not always coincide with the public’s interest in improving education, or even the interests of the teachers themselves. Just as the union issues questionnaires to political candidates prior to endorsing them, this paper in turn asks some questions of the unions. This should not be construed as “teacher bashing,” “anti-union,” or “anti-public education,” as unions sometimes label those who offer alternatives to their policies, but rather as a critical examination of whether teacher unionization and the policies unions support have benefited teachers and the general public. It is healthy for any organization—especially one that claims to have the public’s best interests at heart—to be challenged from time to time. The Maryland State Teachers Association and its affiliates have been asking candidates questions for decades. The time has come to ask them some questions as well.

Stripping Students' Rights

Originally published in the Baltimore City Paper

By Jason Torres
Published on Tuesday, September 19, 2006
On Sept. 19, a bill that was first proposed in May, called the Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006 (HR 5295), passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. It has not yet passed in the Senate, but if it does, it will require school districts around the country to empower teachers and school officials to conduct broad searches of students and their property. The National School Boards Association has gone on record as being against the bill, stating in a letter to the House that "while this legislation is well intentioned, it nonetheless constitutes bad policy and seems to reflect a basic misunderstanding of the separation of powers under the United States Constitution."

Baltimore Students Deserve School Vouchers

Originally published on FoxNews.com

By Dan Lips
Published on Friday, August 25, 2006
Bad news just keeps coming for Baltimore City public schools. The city’s high-school graduation rate has slipped below 40 percent -- worse than every city in America except Detroit. State education officials recently labeled six Baltimore City public schools as “persistently dangerous.” Some 22,000 students languish in schools that have failed state benchmarks for six or more years. Unfortunately, Maryland state lawmakers appear unwilling to reform even the worst public schools in Baltimore City. During the last legislative session, Gov. Robert Ehrlich proposed a state takeover of 11 chronically failing public schools. The General Assembly not only approved a measure to delay changes for one year, it overrode Gov. Ehrlich’s veto of the legislation. Yet change could come to city schools if the Bush administration and some in Congress have their way. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill to unveil a plan to give private-school scholarships to disadvantaged students in some of the country’s lowest-performing public schools. The Opportunity Scholarship Initiative would provide $100 million in grants to cities such as Baltimore with a high density of failing schools. The grants would be used to give low-income public-school students scholarships to attend private school or intensive after-school tutoring programs. Only students in the lowest-performing public schools would be eligible. In Baltimore, that would include more than 40 schools, attended by more than a quarter of the city’s public-school students.

Better ways to address worthy priorities

Originally published in the Herald-Mail

By Thomas A. Firey
Published on Sunday, August 13, 2006
HAGERSTOWN - Washington County Commissioners candidate Paul Swartz is to be applauded for clearly defining two policies that he would push if elected ("Education, tax relief are priorities," July 23.) Doing this sets him apart from the too-many candidates who campaign on the haziest of ideas. Swartz vows to tackle two crucial local issues: increasing the number of county workers with higher education and easing the property tax burden. Concerning the former, workers in today's economy who want success and financial security will need the critical thinking, occupational training and adaptability skills that college and/or advanced job training can provide. Concerning the latter, soaring tax assessments are becoming increasingly onerous, especially for seniors.

Program could fund money for private schools

Originally published in the Carroll County Times

By Tomas Pagan-Motta
Published on Sunday, July 16, 2006
Carroll foster children could receive scholarships that will allow them to attend high-quality public or private schools from kindergarten to grade 12 if proposed legislation passes the Maryland General Assembly next year.The Maryland Public Policy Institute, a nonpartisan public policy research and education organization, drafted a program in 2005 that became the framework behind a law passed in Arizona that grants $5,000 scholarships to foster children looking to attend private schools.

Program could fund money for private schools

By Tomas Pagan-Motta, Times Staff Writer
Published on Sunday, July 16, 2006
Carroll foster children could receive scholarships that will allow them to attend high-quality public or private schools from kindergarten to grade 12 if proposed legislation passes the Maryland General Assembly next year.The Maryland Public Policy Institute, a nonpartisan public policy research and education organization, drafted a program in 2005 that became the framework behind a law passed in Arizona that grants $5,000 scholarships to foster children looking to attend private schools.

Fostering education stability

Originally published in the Baltimore Examiner

By Alison Lake
Published on Monday, July 10, 2006
BALTIMORE - Thousands of miles away in Arizona, a small but significant program hatched here in Maryland became law in June. But Maryland’s 11,500 foster care children, 7,000 of whom are in Baltimore City, have yet to benefit from this program designed by The Maryland Public Policy Institute. Gov. Janet Napolitano, Democrat, personally signed into law a first-in-the-nation targeted school choice program for foster care children. Arizona’s $2.5 million scholarship grant program offers foster children scholarships worth up to $5,000 for tuition. Any child who has or is placed in the foster care system is eligible, and the students can use the scholarship to attend private schools.

State of Arizona Adopts Maryland Public Policy Institute Program

School choice program for foster care children becomes law

Published on Friday, June 23, 2006
Germantown, MD - The Maryland Public Policy Institute’s first-in-the-nation targeted school choice program was signed into law by Gov. Janet Napolitano (D). The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to the institute for its innovative proposal to provide school choice to Maryland’s 11,500 foster care children. “This is a momentous accomplishment and helps us as we move forward in promoting school choice for foster children in Maryland and around the country,” said Christopher B. Summers, president of The Maryland Public Policy Institute.

Baltimore City Schools Takeover Signals The Need For More Choice In Education

By Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
Published on Monday, June 12, 2006
The 2005-2006 school year has been tumultuous for Baltimore City Schools, which prompts reflection about what policies should be enacted so the next school year can be better for children in Baltimore’s public schools.   “Nothing Has Improved”   Obvious frustration with Baltimore city’s school system reached its apex this year when Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced that the state department of education would take over seven of the city’s middle schools and four of its high schools that have been persistently failing for years and even decades. These schools are the particularly dysfunctional ones in a city where the majority of students are not getting a decent education. A quick analysis of the Maryland State Assessment (MSA) test scores for 2005 show this persuasively. Citywide, only 40 percent of Baltimore’s eighth graders are considered proficient or better in reading, and an even more heartbreaking 19.5 percent of these children are proficient or better in math. For comparison, 2005 statewide eighth grade reading and math proficiency rates are 66.4 percent and 51.7 percent, respectively.

In the market for a school solution

Originally published in the Daily Record

By Joe Bacchus
Published on Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Think tank Maryland Public Policy Institute intends to use a new grant to determine whether a voucher system might help foster children get a better education. In October the institute issued a report,“School Choice for Maryland’s Foster Care Children: Fostering Stability, Satisfaction and Achievement.” The study suggested a voucher system or perhaps a scholarship program to help kids in foster care. The institute — which searches for market-based solutions to societal problems — has received a $25,000 grant from The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation to continue the research. The Indianapolis-based foundation promotes school choice. The institute has estimated a cost of $8,000 per year to help educate each student.