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1 month ago | 
aei.org | Robert Pondiscio |Julia Cataneo
On Sunday, March 15, I was invited by the 92nd Street Y, a Manhattan cultural hub that wrestles with big public policy dilemmas and ideas, to participate in a debate on school choice and charter schools. I was joined by Luis Huerta, a Teachers College professor and co-editor of The School Voucher Illusion; Jeff Greenfield was our moderator. Professor Huerta argued choice overpromises, underdelivers, and saps public schools.
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2 months ago | 
aei.org | Brad Wilcox |Daniel Cox |Brent Orrell |Robert Pondiscio
The past decade has significantly affected Americans’ economic well-being, but they remain optimistic about the strength of their marriages and families. The 10th annual American Family Survey documents striking similarities in Republicans and Democrats’ day-to-day family lives, but it finds significant partisan differences in their ideas about the role of marriage and support for government programs designed to aid families.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
aei.org | Frederick M. Hess |Robert Pondiscio |John Bailey |Michael Strain
The 2023 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard significantly altered the college admissions landscape by effectively banning race as a factor in admissions. The landmark ruling triggered a slew of changes in admissions policies nationwide. Edward J. Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions, has been the driving force behind many successful lawsuits alleging race-based discrimination in higher education and other fields.
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Jan 15, 2025 | 
aei.org | Frederick M. Hess |Robert Pondiscio |John Bailey |Michael Strain
In recent years, elite colleges’ language, norms, and assumptions have seemed to reflect a rigid ideological orthodoxy rather than a commitment to free inquiry and rigorous academic instruction. How accurate or fair are such concerns? Amid plunging public trust in higher education, what will it take to bridge ideological divides and restore confidence in selective colleges? Join AEI’s Frederick M. Hess and Michael A.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
aei.org | Robert Pondiscio |Mark Bauerlein
The latest installment of an ongoing interview series with First Things contributing editor Mark Bauerlein. Robert Pondiscio joins in to discuss his articles, “How Public Schools Became Ideological Boot Camps” and “On curriculum and literacy, Texas gets it.”
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
aei.org | Robert Pondiscio |Zichu Yang
It’s not often that you can draw a straight line from a decision by policymakers to improvements in student achievement. But a vote this week by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) could set in motion a series of events that would foreseeably launch the Lone Star State to the top of national literacy rankings by the end of the decade. All it will take is a bit of foresight and political courage.
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Nov 14, 2024 | 
aei.org | Robert Pondiscio
Around the turn of the millennium, Florida was widely regarded as a pace-setter in education reform. Led by then-Governor Jeb Bush, the Sunshine State implemented an outcomes-driven agenda focused on prioritizing literacy, holding schools accountable, and expanding school choice, among other agenda items. The success of these reforms garnered national attention, with significant gains seen in student performance, especially for historically underserved groups.
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
amac.us | Robert Pondiscio
As the results of the election came into focus Tuesday night, Chuck Todd made a keen observation on NBC: Republicans’ biggest gains among Hispanic voters came in Florida and Texas, states that “have been very aggressive about expanding school choice.”That’s not a coincidence. Conservatives have long understood that school choice is a winning issue, especially in minority communities that have been poorly served by traditional public schools.
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Nov 8, 2024 | 
aei.org | Robert Pondiscio |Zichu Yang
As the results of the election came into focus Tuesday night, Chuck Todd made a keen observation on NBC: Republicans’ biggest gains among Hispanic voters came in Florida and Texas, states that “have been very aggressive about expanding school choice.”That’s not a coincidence. Conservatives have long understood that school choice is a winning issue, especially in minority communities that have been poorly served by traditional public schools.
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Oct 24, 2024 | 
aei.org | Robert Pondiscio
I confess I approach the question of virtual education with more than a little skepticism. Kids spend enough time staring at screens, and I’ve developed a reflexive distrust bordering on cynicism for all things ed tech, which has a reliable history of overpromising and underdelivering. And, of course, student outcomes from virtual schools have been awful.
