THE PROBLEM: Over the last decade, college costs have skyrocketed. Last year, tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities increased 8.3 percent, even as inflation only rose by approximately three percent. The average four-year public college student now graduates with roughly $22,000 in debt. Despite the Obama Administration’s failed attempts to rein in college costs through a ... Read more »
Hours before the nation recognized the anniversary of President Obama’s failed stimulus plan, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced unemployment could stay above 8 percent for the next three years. We are experiencing the longest run of high unemployment since the Great Depression, despite promises that a trillion dollars in “timely, targeted, and temporary” federal spending would ... Read more »
Later today, President Obama will visit a Boeing plant in Everett, Washington to tout his administration’s manufacturing policies. At a similar event held earlier this week in Wisconsin, the president discussed the opportunities that “exist right now to bring jobs and manufacturing back to the United States of America.” Unfortunately, some of those opportunities are being undermined by the actions... Read more »
After a shrouded review process and months of closed-door debate, the administration last week announced 10 states will receive waivers from certain requirements under No Child Left Behind. With this action, the administration has officially shunned working with Congress to improve federal education law in favor of a scheme that merely exchanges a few of No Child Left Behind’s most onerous mandate... Read more »
THE PROBLEM: The Department of Education operates approximately 80 programs tied to K-12 classrooms, each with its own set of burdensome rules and reporting requirements. According to Virginia's Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Edgar Hatrick, navigating this complicated system often results in "resources being diverted from the mission of teaching and learning." Additionally, federal ... Read more »
THE PROBLEM: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as No Child Left Behind, has been due for reauthorization since 2007. Despite its best intentions, there is widespread agreement that the current law is no longer effectively serving students. Under No Child Left Behind’s accountability system, known as Adequate Yearly Progress, all schools that fail to meet target proficien... Read more »
During the State of the Union address, President Obama proposed what could be a very promising breakthrough in the effort to improve federal workforce development programs. Today, more than 47 job trainings programs are scattered across the federal government, a bureaucratic mess that fails to adequately serve workers and wastes taxpayer dollars. To fix the problem, President Obama called on Congr... Read more »
During the State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to prevent an increase in student loan interest rates from hitting students, stating, “At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July.” While we all agree on the importance of keeping college affordable and providi... Read more »
As President Obama prepares to deliver his latest State of the Union address, he and his advisers are no doubt spending a great deal of time trying to find the right words to explain his abysmal record on the economy. The president has proven he can deliver a great speech, but he continues to disappoint on the issue that matters most: Jobs. Despite what we may hear tomorrow night, a close look at ... Read more »
As President Obama prepares to deliver his latest State of the Union address, the administration is working at a fever pitch to put the final pieces of its backdoor education agenda in place. On Tuesday, the American people are sure to hear the president wax poetically about his efforts to bolster K-12 education, provide relief to states struggling under No Child Left Behind, and grant reprieve to... Read more »
