Feeding Mind, Pursuing Truth
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Charter Schools Do It For Less0
- March 23, 2015
Last week, the Star Tribune reported that hordes of parents are taking their children out of the Minneapolis Public Schools district and choosing different options, primarily charter schools. In case you are unfamiliar with the differences between charters and traditional district schools, charters enjoy more autonomy from state and district regulations. This enables them to implement various
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How the Education System Destroys Social Networks0
- March 17, 2015
I was at a restaurant for lunch and had time to visit with the waitress, who turns out to be a college graduate from a good institution. She has a degree in European languages. Here she is waiting tables with nondegreed people, some five years her junior, some 10 years her elder. She is making
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Mark Zuckerberg’s “A Year of Books” Without Any Classics0
- March 6, 2015
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook, made an announcement in January that he was launching a book club. He is calling 2015 “A Year of Books,” and he has invited Facebook users to join him in discussions and participate in author Q&As online. “We will read a new book every two weeks and discuss
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5 Surprising Countries That Outperform the U.S. in Math0
- February 25, 2015
U.S. students now rank 26th in the world in math performance. When it comes to the international education race, we often hear how the U.S. is falling behind countries like China and Finland. But as these countries seem like perpetual overachievers, it’s easy to brush off their accomplishments and tell ourselves that we’re doing okay. But other
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Apprenticeships: A Safer Bet?0
- February 9, 2015
Chances are you’ve seen an infographic showing the huge return on investment that a college degree offers. But a new study entitled “Dropouts, Taxes and Risk” suggests that the ROI on college isn’t as great as it seems. This is because many studies evaluate the best possible outcome of a college education, failing to account for risks such as
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There’s No Such Thing as an Unregulated Market0
- January 30, 2015
It’s a choice between regulation by legislators or by consumers A big economic problem the world faces is semantic. That is, “regulation” has come to mean “government regulation.” We don’t seem to be aware of the alternative: regulation by market forces. That’s a problem because it leads us to accept so much government meddling that
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3 Reasons to Support School Choice0
- January 26, 2015
Choice is integral to a functioning market economy, but when it comes to a child’s education, choice is virtually absent. Efforts to increase schooling options are condemned by individuals and organizations who believe that public education is so outstanding that it must be protected from competition. Take for example, the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS),
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Are You a Bad Teacher?0
- January 20, 2015
It is a shocking reality that the vast majority of “teachers” have no idea what it means to be an “educated” human being. If this is true, and indeed it is demonstrable, then it should not be a surprise to learn that most Americans have no idea what it means to be a good teacher.
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Reading Levels: 1908 vs. 20140
- January 13, 2015
Some of you may remember the 1908 curriculum manual I dug up in the Minnesota Historical Society archives a few months ago. When compared with a current public school reading list, it demonstrated that today’s schools are offering a more narrow view of western civilization and a simplified level of reading material. I thought of this manual
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