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.

Maryland group wins national grant for work on education

Maryland Public Policy Institute proposes plan to educate state's foster care children

Published on Thursday, May 18, 2006
The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation has awarded a $25,000 grant to the Maryland Public Policy Institute for its innovative proposal to provide school choice to the state’s 11,500 foster care children. The award was given as part of the Foundation’s second annual Innovation in Promoting School Choice competition.

Special children, special needs, big bucks

Originally published in the Baltimore Examiner

By Alison Lake
Published on Thursday, May 18, 2006
BALTIMORE - The ongoing and systemic failure of Baltimore City’s special-education system in public schools is an extreme but very real example of what happens when a public school district is allowed to underserve its students for decades. Under state management since summer of 2005, the city’s special education services have been ordered to provide 90,000 hours of makeup services from 2005 on top of what is due children in 2006. A state report also showed that 25 percent of city high school seniors in special education received diplomas last spring without meeting graduation requirements. Baltimore City’s school system is an excellent example of a situation where both mainstream and special-education students would benefit greatly from the opportunity to take their per-pupil money elsewhere to a better school.

Nonprofit, teachers’ union duel about $25K grant for foster kids

Originally published in the Baltimore Examiner

By Tawanda W. Johnson
Published on Tuesday, May 16, 2006
GERMANTOWN, Md. - A nonprofit wants to promote school choice as the best way to help foster children. But the state teachers’ union sees this initiative as diverting funds from public to private schools. Maryland Public Policy Institute received a $25,000 grant from the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation to promote school choice for the state’s 11,500 foster care children.