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USCharterSchools School District Politics

There’s an $11 Million Price Tag for Two Seats on the LAUSD School Board

Celebrities like John Legend, Tim Robbins and John Lithgow, as well as politicians Bernie Sanders and Maxine Waters, have endorsed candidates for a position that pays $45,000 a year.

As of April 29, total outside spending on the L.A. Unified election stands at $11.3 million — a figure that will only increase when the next report on campaign contributions is released by the L.A. Ethics Commission on May 12. The previous record for outside donations was $7.4 million, set during the board election of 2013.

Source: LAUSD School Board Election Is The Most Expensive Yet | L.A. Weekly

USCharterSchools School Choice, Secretary Betsy DeVos, Vouchers

School Vouchers Aren’t Working, but Choice Is – The New York Times

Betsy DeVos’s favorite education policy keeps looking worse. Last week, the Education Department, which she runs, released a careful study of the District of Columbia’s use of school vouchers, which she supports. The results were not good.

Students using vouchers to attend a private school did worse on math and reading than similar students in public school, the study found. It comes after other studies, in Ohio and elsewhere, have also shown weak results for vouchers.

USCharterSchools Vouchers

Arizona is expanding its school-voucher program. What does it mean for parents?

The Arizona Legislature has passed one of the most expansive school-voucher programs in the nation.

In April, Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law Senate Bill 1431, which allows all 1.1 million public-school students to apply for the Empowerment Scholarship Account program. The program gives public funds to students to use on private-school tuition, therapies and other educational services. Republican lawmakers narrowly approved the plan, which allows an estimated 30,000 students to take part in the program by 2022.

Source: Arizona is expanding its school-voucher program. What does it mean for parents?

USCharterSchools Vouchers

School Vouchers – Florida’s McKay Program Appears to Boost Performance

As schools compete, the state’s national education ranking skyrockets.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos likes to point to Florida’s education reforms from the Jeb Bush era as a potential model for expanding school choice. It’s a reasonable place to start given that adoption of these policies in the early 2000s coincided with outstanding educational improvements in the state. Statewide progress on the National Assessment for Educational Progress, a test administered over time by the federal government, has far outstripped that of the nation and nearly all states.

Source: School Vouchers — Florida’s McKay Program Appears to Boost Performance | National Review