Author Archives: Don Soifer

February 24, 2010Don Soifer

Give Principals Real Control The New York Times, Room for Debate Blog A system like New York City’s that requires schools to pay upwards of $350,000 in fees, arbitration and salary, and then be forced to wait three years to dismiss an ineffective teacher, [Read More...]

February 11, 2010Don Soifer

Washington Needs To Help Improve Education For Military Kids One set of program details conspicuously absent from the Obama Administration’s proposed 2011 budget is for Impact Aid, the federal Department of Education’s funding mechanism to public schools serving children from military families. The budget request sent to Congress earlier [Read More...]

February 9, 2010Don Soifer

Lexington Institute’s Don Soifer Interviewed on Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg Excerpts from Don Soifer’s interview with host Milt Rosenberg’s nightly radio show on Chicago’s WGN Radio – 720 AM. Don is interviewed along with two other guests, Dr. James Quaid, Associate Superintendent of the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools, and [Read More...]

February 5, 2010Don Soifer

School Safety and School Choice in Urban Education Presentation to the Illinois Policy Institute Summit on Vouchers and the Future of Education in Illinois. Surveys repeatedly tell us that school safety is one of the most important factors parents consider when choosing a school for their children. Last [Read More...]

February 2, 2010Don Soifer

New Educational Choices Would Help Military Families Issue Brief One set of program details conspicuously absent from the Obama Administration’s proposed 2011 budget released this week was for Impact Aid, the federal Department of Education’s funding mechanism to public schools serving children from military families. The new [Read More...]

January 13, 2010Don Soifer

A GUARANTEED PLAN TO FLUNK TEACHING ENGLISH Issue Brief National Education Association president Dennis Van Roekel is fond of asserting that, “A great public school for every student starts with a great teacher.” But his union’s advocacy agenda frequently supports positions that benefit neither children nor great [Read More...]

December 10, 2009Don Soifer

DOES EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY INCLUDE CONTRACTS? Issue Brief The Obama Administration has made a top education priority of the elimination of federally guaranteed student loans by private-sector lenders, to be replaced by expanding the federal Education Department’s Direct Loan program. Such a move, supporters say, will [Read More...]

November 19, 2009Don Soifer

8 WAYS VIRGINIA CAN ADD HIGH- QUALITY CHARTER SCHOOLS Issue Brief Governor-elect Bob McDonnell and his incoming administration face an historic opportunity to draw from the best of the nation’s 5,000 public charter school leaders and models to help energize a high-performing charter movement for the commonwealth. The right [Read More...]

November 18, 2009Don Soifer

Bringing High-Quality Charter Schools To Virginia Remarks at the Thomas Jefferson Institute Annual Policy Luncheon These are exciting times for Virginia education. With a newly-elected Governor who not only supports charter schools, but brought them up frequently and with enthusiasm throughout his campaign; a President and [Read More...]

November 8, 2009Don Soifer

SELLING SMART GRID TO AMERICANS Norfolk Virginian-Pilot President Obama’s recent announcement of $3.4 billion in grants to help modernize the nation’s energy grid was steeped in references to 21st-century technology. But the program’s inspiration is actually rooted in the beginning of the last century. As [Read More...]