By Dr. Mavuto Kalulu Arkansas offers two types of public charter schools for students seeking an alternative to traditional public schools. Conversion charter schools, first authorized in 1995, are public schools that are converted to charter schools. They have more autonomy than traditional public schools while still remaining under the school district’s control. Only students residing […]
Can We Simply Raise the Bar on Teacher Quality?
By Dr. Mavuto Kalulu Academic research shows that teacher effectiveness plays a critical role in student learning. One study (Hanushek, 2011) shows that the difference between an effective teacher and an ineffective one can be as much as a year’s worth of learning. In order to ensure the quality of teachers, states require teachers to pass qualifying exams, […]
More to Choose: School Choice and Friedman’s Vision
By Dr. Mavuto Kalulu Today, the Arkansas school choice menu includes district transfers, charter school options, and home schooling. Beginning this fall, the menu has been expanded to include a limited voucher program that will only be served to special needs children. While this menu may satisfy some, there are unnecessary limits. For starters, these […]
Charter School Myths and Facts
By Mavuto Kalulu Many people have misconceptions about charter schools, the parents that choose them, and the children that attend them. Below are just a few of the common charter school myths along with the facts and sources that address them. Myth: Charter schools perform worse than traditional public schools Fact: Open-enrollment charter schools perform […]
Understanding Why Firms Hire: Minimum Wage Debate
Highly profitable companies pay some of their workers only the minimum wage. Some politicians and activists, along with the President, want to raise this wage. Arguing that it is unfair for workers to make so little, the President wants to raise the minimum wage for all workers to $10.10. Unfortunately, the President doesn’t understand how […]
School Choice Gives Your Child $200,000
By Dr. Mavuto Kalulu The figure from the U.S. Department of Labor displays the unemployment rate and weekly earnings by education level earned. Suppose that John graduated from high school at age 18 but his buddy Jacob dropped out. As the figure shows, John will earn $179 per week more than Jacob. In one year […]
Change Coaches’ to Improve Arkansas Education
Arkansans love their football. Imagine if their favorite team kept losing. Every game the coach called the same plays, hoping for a different outcome. That would definitely make Arkansans demand a new coach be hired to run a different system. What if we were discussing public education instead of football? Every year more and more […]