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Alternative Schooling Emerges

By David W. Kirkpatrick

Major institutions, such as the public schools, do not change without external ideas and pressure, and anyone who tries to implement substantive change can expect to be attacked.

Jackie DuCote spent years trying to reform education in Louisiana, including gaining passage of more than 50 major education reform laws from 1977-87. She said those efforts were consistently "watered down, ignored, not implemented properly, taken to court by teacher unions or others, mired down in political turf battles, or not funded," even if the money was there.

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Misguided Stimulus from Strickland

The Dayton Daily News reports, "[last year] lawmakers and Gov. Ted Strickland agreed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on industries such as advanced energy and biomedicine in the coming years to try to create tens of thousands of jobs. But they still must find the money to fund the portion of the stimulus designated for the upcoming two-year budget, which is projected to have a $7.3 billion deficit."

In Governor's New Deal is a Raw Deal, Buckeye Institute fellow Sam Staley writes, "Restoring Ohio's economic vitality will be difficult under the best of circumstances. But the solution is not in having state government pick winners and losers by rewarding favored, politically correct businesses over others not on their political radar screen. On the contrary, the key will be in creating a policy environment where broad-based entrepreneurship and business investment is welcomed and nurtured."

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Don't Count on Casinos to Help

A column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer claims, "These are urgent economic times, and there is no single economic prescription for curing what ails Ohio and the rest of our nation. But Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, and Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican, laudably opened the door this week to a partial solution with their willingness to consider responsibly establishing casinos in our financially beleaguered state."

In Casinos no Panacea for Ohio's Economic Malaise, Sam Staley writes, "the research on the economic impact of casinos is underwhelming. University of Maryland economist Melissa Kearney, for example, found very little evidence that commercial casinos generated much economic development. Most visitors were 'day trippers' that didn't patronize local shops or businesses."

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Charter Schools Popular in Columbus 

"Columbus students continued to flock to charter schools this school year. Last month, more than 10,600 children who live in the district attended charter schools. That was up from 9,000 a year earlier," according to the Columbus Dispatch.

In Ohio Supreme Court Should not Interfere with Ohio's Charter Schools, Buckeye Institute fellow David Owsiany writes, "In a recently released policy brief, the Buckeye Institute undertook the first ever rigorous statistical analysis of community schools in Ohio. Buckeye Institute researchers Matthew Carr and Sam Staley compared traditional schools with community schools within their boundaries, controlling for demographic and school-based variables. Using the results of the Ohio Proficiency Test, they examined the gains made in passage rates between 2002 and 2004. Their conclusion was that 'in all cases charter schools performed as well or better than traditional public schools.'"

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Buckeye Institute in the News

Buckeye Institute President David Hansen was quoted in a Columbus Dispatch story on Columbus's housing rehab program.

NBC 4 in Columbus and the Hillsboro Times Gazette featured stories on the Buckeye Institute's database of the highest paid employees at The Ohio State University.

The Hillsboro Times Gazette published Marc Kilmer's op-ed questioning the wisdom of expanding Medicaid.