THE EMPOWERMENT ZONE

A Tale of Two Governors
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper recently declared a “State of Emergency for public education in North Carolina” in response to a legislative proposal that expands the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program. In stark contrast, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt recently celebrated the “transformative change” created by Oklahoma’s new education freedom program. Governor Stitt knows that “every child deserves a quality education that fits their unique needs, regardless of economic status or background.” Governors across the country are signing legislation that significantly expands school choice. Read about the new and expanded education freedom programs here:

STUDENTS OVER SYSTEMS PODCAST

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THE WHITEBOARD

EMPOWERED PARENTS

EXPOSING THE EDUCATION BLOB

FEATURED IN

ESCAPING YOUR GOV'T ASSIGNED SCHOOL
Shaka Mitchell: Implementing Education Savings Account Programs

This has been an exciting year on the education freedom front. Shaka Mitchell, a senior fellow with the American Federation for Children, joined Escaping Your Government Assigned School to discuss education savings account (ESA) program implementation. For these state-funded flexible education spending accounts to serve families well, state departments of education, technology platforms, education providers, community organizations, and parents will need to communicate effectively with each other.

ON THE RADAR

Thanks in part to journalist Emily Hanford’s powerful series, “Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong,” policymakers across the country are acknowledging the widespread failure of “whole language” and “balanced literacy” reading programs. These programs were a lucrative marketing and contracting triumph for the instructional materials industry and an absolute failure for a generation of students. Fortunately, more states are starting to require “phonics-based” reading instruction, and parents are beginning to understand why the nation’s literacy scores are abysmal. 

The Sold a Story podcast series highlights four years of reporting and exposes a massive failure in education. Hanford’s investigative research reveals that too many schools fail to teach phonics and have instead utilized “three-cueing” teaching strategies that were debunked by cognitive scientists decades ago.