Free Republic

Well, it may not work terribly well but Common Core sure is expensive. “The treatment of textbooks as mountains of words is one of the signature elements of Common Core,” Peter Wood of the National Association of Scholars (NAS) pointed out at the National Press Club Monday. In the past half-decade, the 26 states aligned with the Common Core has dropped to 7 but the price tag keeps increasing. “The Pioneer Institute estimates that the 7-year cost of Common Core is $16 billion,” Silicon Valley engineer Ze’ev Wurman said at the same Press Club event Wood spoke at. “The pro-Common...

... [T]he New York City Department of Education acknowledges that despite rising graduation rates, many graduates lack basic skills, and it is trying to do something about it. This year, for the first time, it has sent detailed reports to all of its high schools, telling them just how many of their students who arrived at the city’s public colleges needed remedial courses, as well as how many stayed enrolled after their first semester. The reports go beyond the basic measure of a school’s success — the percentage of students who earn a diploma — to let educators know whether...

College By...Subscription? by: Bethany Stotts, October 05, 2009 Is subscription-based online education a successful strategy for remedial education? Burck Smith, co-founder of SMARTHINKING argues in a September publication that “call center” style online courses would prove more affordable for both students and colleges. “According to one recent report, the cost of offering these courses exceeds $2 billion a year, of which approximately $800 million is borne by students and families in tuition and fees,” writes Burck for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Educational Outlook. He was referring to the 2008 Strong American Schools Diploma to Nowhere report, which was...

An NBER study discussed at http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/07/31/remedial finds that few students taking remedial courses in college every graduate. (For some reason the post bounced when I put this link in the "Source URL".) Republicans need to make the case that sending everyone to college is not a panacea touted by Obama and many Democrats. Obama proposes at http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/#higher-education to "Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for...

Betting that larger investment in drug treatment, after-school activities and other programs can reduce incarceration, foster care and remedial education, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is expected to sign an agreement today with business and philanthropic leaders designed to shift millions in state spending in the coming years. The central idea of the More for Maryland program, the first phase of which is scheduled to be agreed to today, is that spending on prevention programs with proven track records not only improves the lives of children but also saves money. In what advocates say could be a national model, the...