Published on Feb. 15, 2002 – Michigan Education Report
When people try to come up with the best way to deliver education to the poor, rarely do they think of private schools. Even more rarely do they consider that the profit motive might be a useful tool for accomplishing the task. In fact, many people believe that only government can provide low income children with adequate educational opportunities. A new study makes the opposite case.
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Published on Jan. 16, 2002 – Michigan Privatization Report
Policy-makers at all levels of government are enacting policies that require districts to measure student and school performance. But one popular method of measurement, graduation rates, may not accurately reflect either student proficiency or school excellence. The only sure way to know whether schools are providing a quality education is to introduce more choice and competition into the system, so that schools have incentives to improve.
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Published on Jan. 7, 2002 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Although turning to the private sector for assistance is a good idea, the problems in Philadelphia go far beyond just exchanging the managers of the current system. The educational crisis in Philadelphia is the direct result of monopoly-that is, a lack of choice for parents, and a lack of competition among schools. Bringing in Edison would have done little to change the situation in Philadelphia, except that Edison would have become the monopolist.
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Published on Dec. 4, 2001
Nov. 5, 2001 testimony of Mackinac Center Director of Education Policy Matthew Brouillette before the Oklahoma House of Representatives's Revenue and Taxation Committee on the issue of increasing school choice in that state.
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Published on Nov. 14, 2001 – Special Items
Charter schools have accepted the challenge of serving two masters. As public schools of choice, they are accountable to both the government-through the state and their authorizers-and the market-through parents, students, and the community.
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Published on Nov. 12, 2001 – Special Items
Published on Oct. 23, 2001
On October 10, 2001, Mackinac Center education policy expert Matthew J. Brouillette testified before the Pennsylvania House of Representative's Select Committee on Public Education Funding. The committee was created for the purpose of making recommendations for a new system of funding for public education in the Keystone State. Brouillette was called upon by Pennsylvania Rep. Jeff Coleman to inform the committee about Michigan's experience with school finance reform (Proposal A of 1994) and the lessons Pennsylvania might learn from the Great Lakes State.
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Published on Oct. 12, 2001 – Special Items
Published on Sept. 21, 2001 – Michigan Education Report
Proposal A of 1994 dramatically altered the way Michigan public schools are funded, and now many districts are complaining about a lack of money to meet their budgetary needs. But school revenues are up from pre-Proposal A levels, raising the question, "Are there things that districts can do more efficiently in order to better use the resources they already have?"
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Published on Aug. 30, 2001 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on Aug. 28, 2001 – Non-MCPP Content
Published on July 6, 2001 – Non-MCPP Content
Published on June 1, 2001 – Non-MCPP Content
Published on May 25, 2001 – Non-MCPP Content
In this video clip, Mackinac Center Director of Education Policy Matthew Brouillette explains for WNEM5 television viewers the benefits of outsourcing non-instructional school services.
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Published on May 25, 2001 – Special Items
Citizens of the city of Highland Park have submitted petitions to the state superintendent of public instruction calling for a review of the financial practices of the district's school board members.
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Published on April 26, 2001 – News Release
Published on April 25, 2001 – Michigan Education Report
Published on April 6, 2001
Published on March 2, 2001
Too many Michigan school districts are committing academic fraud by failing to deliver the quality education they promise. If parents could choose the schools their children attend, fraudulent schools would have to improve or lose customers.
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Published on Feb. 2, 2001 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on Jan. 10, 2001 – Michigan Education Report
A promising option for those who want parents to be be able to choose their child's school, but who are not convinced to support vouchers.
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Published on Dec. 8, 2000
Michigan businesses and institutions of higher learning are paying an estimated $601 million per year due to the lack of basic reading, writing, and math skills among students and employees, according to a study released in September by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
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Published on Nov. 1, 2000 – Michigan Education Report
Published on Sept. 13, 2000 – Michigan Education Report
In May, more than 100 business leaders, philanthropists, and others gathered in Grand Rapids for the sixth annual Investors Summit meeting of Children First CEO America, the nation's largest provider of "opportunity scholarships"partial scholarships for children of low-income parents, financed by private-sector contributors.
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Published on Sept. 13, 2000 – Michigan Education Report
Published on Aug. 7, 2000 – News Release
In January, Mid-Michigan Public School Academy in Lansing became the largest unionized charter school in the nation when teachers there voted to join the Michigan Education Association (MEA).
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Published on May 12, 2000 – Michigan Education Report
Converting Detroit's public schools into charter schools would free parents, students, teachers, and principals from a paralyzing education bureaucracy and allow them to take responsibility for making their particular school work.
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Published on April 30, 2000 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on Feb. 16, 2000 – News Release
The Michigan legislature in December acted on two pieces of legislation aimed at effectively de-unionizing Detroit school administrators and boosting the number of charter schools that state universities can authorize.
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Published on Feb. 10, 2000 – Michigan Education Report
Published on Oct. 19, 1999 – Michigan Education Report
Allowing parents greater freedom to choose the schools their children attend will lead to educational disaster, claim defenders of the status quo. But examples of school choice in modern-day and historical America show otherwise.
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Published on Oct. 4, 1999 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on Aug. 15, 1999 – Michigan Education Report
A study of union membership rates among Michigan public, charter, and private, school teachers reveals that unions have powerful political and financial incentives to oppose school choice proposals.
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Published on July 5, 1999 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Over $2 billion worth of Michigan school construction is approved or underway today,
but our kids need more. Partnering with the private sector may help school districts build
and maintain schools for less.
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Published on May 15, 1999 – Michigan Privatization Report
Published on April 16, 1999 – Michigan Education Report
School board members looking for alternative solutions to familiar school problems now have a resource for innovative ideas and approaches
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Published on April 16, 1999 – Michigan Education Report
A recent Detroit Free Press poll showed that 77 percent of Detroit parents support amending the constitution to allow for tax credits for tuition at nonpublic schools. Parents seem to be saying they would rather pick their children's school than pick the politicians who run the schools.
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Published on March 1, 1999 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Second only to parental involvement, teacher quality dramatically affects student academic success. By relaxing certification requirements, Michigan can actually increase the quality and energy of teachers in the profession
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Published on Feb. 1, 1999 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on Jan. 18, 1999 – Michigan Education Report
Charter schools offer parents greater choices, but they shouldn't be the only available choice. Tuition tax credits would help offset the unfair competitive advantage that tax-funded charter schools enjoy over tuition-charging nongovernment schools.
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Published on Dec. 7, 1998 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on Nov. 2, 1998 – Michigan Education Report
The latest silver bullet to cure what ails failing government schools would bankrupt the state treasury and swell the ranks of teacher unions, but do little to improve student performance.
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Published on Oct. 5, 1998 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Increased competition among schools would not only improve education for all children, it would reward dedicated teachers who excel in the classroom with good benefits and greater job satisfaction.
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Published on Aug. 3, 1998 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on June 1, 1998 – Michigan Privatization Report
Eighty-three percent of all spending on public education goes toward employee salaries and benefits, but over half of Michigan school employees never set foot in a classroom.
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Published on June 1, 1998 – Viewpoint on Public Issues