Charter Schools Strong for Poor, Minority Students

June 28, 2013

James Golsan

Alpha School isn’t an ‘AI story.’ It’s a structural indictment—and employers/HR should pay attention

Alpha School’s “AI education shakeup” is really a warning to employers: the fastest way to outperform isn’t smarter tech—it’s removing the soul-crushing compliance load that keeps humans from owning the mission. Alpha School was founded in 2014, and it’s recently become a national talking point because its students do core academics in roughly two hours...

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Taxes & Spending

Austin’s rising utility fees are taxes by another name

Rising utility bills are one of many factors exacerbating Austin’s well-documented affordability crisis. When Austin utility bills went up last winter, many residents probably didn’t even notice — mostly because the increase in fees was hidden by reductions in other costs. But here’s the truth: The city of Austin is squeezing its customers more than they know....

April 2, 2026

K-12 Education

Study: K-12 Grade Inflation Making American Kids Dumber, Costing Them Millions

When teachers inflate grades — giving higher marks than students’ actual performance warrants — the effects ripple far beyond the classroom. Increasingly widespread high school grade inflation can cost students more than $200,000 in lost earning potential per teacher per year, finds a groundbreaking new study. Authored by Jeffrey T. Denning, Rachel Nesbit, Nolan Pope,...

March 23, 2026

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Austin’s rising utility fees are taxes by another name

Study: K-12 Grade Inflation Making American Kids Dumber, Costing Them Millions