By Caleb Taylor How do poor countries become rich countries? What can we learn about economics by thinking in terms of time instead of money? Answers to these questions and more will be the topics of presentations by ACRE experts at the REAL Econ for All Conference hosted by Economics Arkansas on July 18th and […]
ACRE Alum Momand Discusses How Citizens Can Improve Regulations
By Caleb Taylor Federal regulators do read the comments, but are you submitting any? Former ACRE Research Fellow and UCA Schedler Honors College alum Maleka Momand was a guest at the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Teleforum, The Commenting Power: Agency Accountability through Public Participation, on March 21st to discuss the federal “notice and comment rulemaking […]
Student Travel Assistance to Economics Conferences
By Caleb Taylor Arkansas college students attending economics conferences can get their travel costs reimbursed. ACRE has awarded tens of thousands of dollars in the past few years alone. Students could attend conferences hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Foundation for Economic Education, the Institute for Humane Studies, or more! The Federal Reserve […]
Why Academic Freedom Matters
By Caleb Taylor ACRE scholars and UCA faculty, Dr. Zack Donohew, Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl, Dr. Tom Snyder and ACRE Director David “Mitch” Mitchell discussed the importance of academic freedom and the challenges it faces across the nation in an op-ed published February 26th in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In the op-ed, they list examples of attacks […]
Are charter schools harming public school students?
By Caleb Taylor Does charter school competition harm students in traditional public schools? According to research conducted by ACRE experts, the answer is no. ACRE Policy Analyst Dr. Mavuto Kalulu, ACRE Scholar and UCA Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Thomas Snyder, and UCA Mathematics Graduate Student Saliou N. Ouattara were recently published in the Fall […]
Myth 5: Traditional Public Schools will be Forced to shut down Because they can’t Compete with Open Enrollment Charter Schools
By Dr. Mavuto Kalulu When a charter school opens in the vicinity of a traditional public school, some people fear that the decreased enrollment caused by students transferring will cause the traditional public schools to shut down. When a public school shuts down, children are assigned to other schools, which they and their parents may […]
Myth 4: Open Enrollment Charter Schools Receive more Public Funding than Traditional Public Schools
The public school system in Arkansas is funded with taxpayers’ money. Over the years, the amount of money that the state allocates per student has been rising, with the hope that the additional resources provided by more funding will improve students’ performance. What have taxpayers bought with these additional funds? Figure 1 shows the trends […]
Myth 3: Open Enrollment Charter Schools Hire Underqualified Teachers
Opponents criticize open enrollment charter schools for employing “underqualified” teachers. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) defines a highly qualified teacher as one who is licensed, demonstrates subject-matter competence by passing a content knowledge test, and holds at least a bachelor’s degree in the subject that he or she will teach. In contrast to traditional […]
Myth 2: Education Outcomes at Open Enrollment Charter Schools are Worse than Those at Traditional Public Schools
No Arkansas parent wants their child to attend a failing school. Proponents of school choice argue that open enrollment charter schools—an alternative to traditional public schools—improve the performance of the students they enroll. Opponents argue that open enrollment charter schools erode the quality of education and hurt the performance of the students that they enroll. […]
Myth 1: Open Enrollment Charter Schools Don’t Enroll Many Black or Hispanic Students
Arkansas has a history of severe racial problems in its K–12 schools. A case in point is the infamous 1957 Little Rock Nine case, in which a group of nine African American students were denied enrollment at the all-white Central High public school. Over the years, laws have been enacted to ensure that public schools […]