Education

In my last blog about D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, I said she was tough. But Rhee’s character is too complex to fit a one-word label. Tough, yes, but without being abrasive, and while displaying confidence without hubris. That’s a pretty amazing combination. Tough without being abrasive: confident without hubris. Remember it, sports fans.

When she spoke at my Institute for Education (IFE) INFO Public Policy Roundtable group last week, Rhee enlightened us about how she’s reinventing D.C. schools, starting from square one. Read more...

What is going on in this country when a second-grader gets suspended for drawing a picture of a gun? Why would you punish a child when he draws a picture of what he sees and hears on a daily basis? Should 7-year-old Kyle Walker be suspended for the misdeeds of Hollywood that consistently depict sex and corruption; when our own country is at war; and not to mention the many shootings that have occurred on college campuses here in the United States? The Dennis Township Primary School officials should be ashamed of themselves and Kyle’s family should sue Cape May County, N.J., for allowing the suspension to happen. Read more...

If you want to understand the deplorable condition of free speech on college campuses today, you need look no further than what happened recently at George Washington University here in the nation’s capital. A recognized campus conservative group, Young America’s Foundation (full disclosure: I am on the board of directors), was planning to host a seminar, entitled “Islamo Fascist Awareness Week," which was to highlight the threat that radical Islam poses to the United States. Say what you will about the title, which was provocative, this is tame stuff compared to the anti-Bush, anti-American drumbeat of conferences and seminars that are held every day at GW and elsewhere. Read more...

Just think how much money we could save if we cancelled all government programs that have been proven not to work … starting with abstinence-only education!

Yet the Bush administration just launched another multi-million-dollar abstinence-only crusade, complete with TV commercials of kids telling their parents: “Please tell me not to have sex until I’m married.” They even have a new website, 4parents.com, designed to teach parents how to teach kids how not to have sex. Read more...

You call that a strike!!?? Two days? The United Auto Workers didn't strike. It held a little pep rally. Now the workers can go back to their jobs, until layoffs force them out of work, and management can continue with its short-sighted policies. Things sure ain't what they used to be. Read more...

After two weeks of hiking with my 21-year-old and plenty of time to be concerned about nothing more than falling off a mountain or whether my body would endure eight hours a day of pounding, I do find a clarity of perspective that I hope will make some sense to even my harshest critics on the other side of the aisle.

As Rove and Snow and many others leave the Bush ship and the presidential campaign moves to the forefront, the question is where we are going, not just with politics but with seemingly forgotten policy issues.  Read more...

I was watching the news the other day, and I saw an advertisement put up by the Democrats thanking the Democrats for all their success in the first seven months of their majority.

Talk about chutzpah.

Talk about smart.

My mom always told me that if you don’t believe good things about yourself, nobody else will. Well, it is time for the Republicans to start believing that their philosophy has led to some real progress for the American people. If we don’t start believing it, nobody else will.  Read more...

Congress can redeem itself and the low ratings accorded the Democratic majority by acting on three key pieces of legislation: the student-loan reforms, which have passed the House; the tobacco FDA regulation bill; and legislation making it mandatory for states to enter information on who they have incarcerated in prisons or mental hospitals on the gun buyers database. These three pieces of legislation, coupled with the increase in the minimum wage already voted, will address key issues of great concern to the voters.

That Philip Morris has endorsed the FDA bill and the NRA is supporting the gun buyers data proposal should not disqualify them. Both are good bills, very worthy of support.

Just when you think the Democrats running for the nation's highest office have fooled us that they are in touch with America, one of them goes off and does something that proves they are out in left field somewhere. The most recent example? Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) statement that he doesn't have a problem with sex education being taught to school children — kindergarten school children, that is.  Read more...

This country is about equal opportunity, not equal outcome. How many times have we heard that? It's the American way to give everybody the same fair chance at success. What a wonderful theory.

So let's talk about all the equal opportunity here in the U-S of A, shared by rich and poor alike:  Read more...