Word: idea
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Although most Americans support the idea of school choice, voucher programs from around the country are being pounded by lawsuits. The National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers union and one of the most powerful political forces in America, is opposing school reform with all its might. In several states the NEA has sued county school boards which have tried to implement these reforms. They argue that any public money that goes to parochial schools violates the First Amendment and that charter schools and vouchers will compel the best students to leave crumbling schools, leaving teachers with kids...
...Century Charter School, it took only six days-and the school paid less. In Mesa, Ariz., 2,000 students attend 50 charter schools, with phenomenal results. In Detroit, charter schools have been implemented to improve the poor results of inner city schools. According to Superintendent David Snead, "The charter idea is helping encourage other schools in our district to examine what they are doing." Polices such as these have been implemented in 34 states, and continue to become more successful...
...school reform, too, such as school vouchers. Vouchers give parents a money grant, usually what the average spending-per-student is in that school district, so that the parents can send their child to a school of their choice, whether it be public, private, magnet or parochial. The idea was conceived by parents in inner cities who wanted their children to escape the poor performance of neighborhood schools. Vouchers have been implemented in Cleveland, Milwaukee and throughout Vermont and Maine. Future states may include Arizona and Minnesota...
Proponents of school choice are by no means anti-teacher. Rather, they oppose the idea that their hard-earned money is producing stagnant student test scores-scores which place American students far below the rest of the world in basic educational skills. Teachers are crucial to the improvement of American schools, and they need to be consulted in the implementation of curriculum which will return America to the top. But first, they need to accept change. The NEA must stop its politicking and decide to put America's future first...
...Rongji, the First Lady isn't expected to give a formal inkling of her decision on the New York Senate race until June. But her advisers say that the more she thinks about it--egged on in private by the Campaigner in Chief--the more she likes the idea. She's unfazed by polls showing her lead shrinking in a hypothetical match with New York Mayor RUDY GIULIANI and advice from her strategists that her chances are about even in a race that would be largely fought upstate and on Long Island. Says an intimate: "The upsides are taking...