This commentary originally appeared in Real Clear Policy on September 17, 2014. As online education grows, so do the ranks of its critics. One of the charges leveled by online learning's doubters is that it is easier for students to cheat on exams given over the Internet. One report quotes a college senior who has taken three online courses...
This commentary originally appeared in The Texas Tribune on September 15, 2014. More than 80 percent of global energy consumption derives from fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas. Official forecasters, such as the International Energy Agency, predict that fossil fuels will continue to dominate consumption for decades to come. Yet current climate policies endorsed in Western...
Teachers love to give their students all the help they can, but it is astonishing the many areas in which they are not given the support which they should receive. One case of this is when teachers have to pay for classroom supplies for their kids out of their own pocket. In many cases, teachers dig deep into their own pockets to enhance the learning experience of their students. In the 2006-07 school year—the most recent for which data is available—Texas public school teachers spent over $400 on classroom supplies. Table 1 provides some information on how much public school and private school teachers are spending:
Last week, the Texas Public Policy Action (TPPA) launched its Texas Government Waste Contest, a public competition aimed at identifying the most egregious examples of state and local government waste in the Lone Star State. Here’s more: "Even in Texas there is an incredible amount of wasteful spending, political favoritism, and crony capitalism. This contest will...
This commentary originally appeared in Breitbart.com on September 4, 2014. Few episodes in our history have tried Americans' souls as much as the current crises of trust. When serial abuses of power become routine and fidelity to legislative duties and campaign promises is the rare excetion, it is natural for citizens to disrepect the entire law-making process...
Speaking about the strength of a wavering national economy is difficult for any Federal Reserve president. Fortunately, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher has an easier job touting the success of his region because of the robust, quality job growth in Texas. In fact, he spoke about this at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s “Texas at...
This commentary originally appeared in Breitbart Texas on September 10, 2014. Are radical social engineering policies entering our schools? If Dripping Springs ISD’s latest ploy to save the planet is any indication, the answer is yes. Recently, Dripping Springs ISD joined other school districts in observing “Meatless Mondays,” which, as they sound, are Mondays on which no...
Last night, city councilmembers in the small Texas town of Marlin, a suburb of Waco, unanimously passed an ordinance creating the Marlin Community Initiative (MCI), an innovative community service program crafted with the help of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Local Governance and Center for Effective Justice. The MCI is an effort to...
The answer: Yes, at least according to the recent school finance decision. Included in the district court’s 364-page Findings of Fact (FOF) is a mention of “some” Texas school districts assuming long-term debts in order to pay for short-term operational expenses. This, of course, runs contrary to prudent financial management practices. Here’s the specific reference (pg. 316): FOF...
This commentary originally appeared in The Austin American-Statesman on September 9, 2014. Horse racing often captures the public’s imagination in the spring as yet another horse seeks to be the first Triple Crown winner in almost 40 years. Yukon Willie’s Gold Rush, an instant racing slot-like machine that shows three-second clips of old horse races, doesn’t quite...
This commentary was originally published in MySanAntonio.com on Sept. 5, 2014. Von Ormy is a small town south of San Antonio that most Texans probably haven't heard of. But city officials have a big idea that could change all that. Last month, it was announced that Von Ormy likely will become the first municipality in Bexar County...
Currently Texas has the lowest number of special education students in the nation. After peaking in the early 2000s, it fell dramatically, falling from about 12% of the student population to around 8%, well below the national average.[i] Although numbers are also dropping nationally, the particularly dramatic dip in Texas has led many to wonder whether Texas is...