Author Archives: Robert Holland

January 1, 2000Robert Holland

Charter Schools Ahead of Curve on School Size Article Published in the School Reform News U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley plugged for small schools in his recent back-to-school message. “We need to find ways to create small, supportive learning environments that give students a sense of connection to [Read More...]

November 8, 1999Robert Holland

How to House and Pay for the Local Charter School Research Study Charter schools are one of the hottest innovations in American education. Led by independent operators who promise to deliver results in return for exemption from bureaucratic rules, they are injecting needed choice and competition into public education. The [Read More...]

November 1, 1999Robert Holland

Cleveland Vouchers Begin to Pay Dividends Article Published in the School Reform News News about Cleveland’s voucher program came in rapid-fire succession around the opening of the 1999-2000 school year. But perhaps the most significant development came last . . . and received the least coverage [Read More...]

October 13, 1999Robert Holland

A Goals 2000 in 2001 – or Is It Time to Turn the Page? Article Published in Education Week National education goals debuted as a movement in 1989 when President Bush and the nation’s Governors met to agree on a bipartisan, nationally coordinated effort to improve public education. In 1994, Congress passed the Clinton [Read More...]

September 14, 1999Robert Holland

The Weighting Game for ‘Strivers’ Letter to the Editor, The Wall Street Journal “New Weights Can Alter SAT Scores” reported The Wall Street Journal in its August 31 Marketplace section. And among the weights the Educational Testing Service is adding so colleges can discern the [Read More...]

August 20, 1999Robert Holland

Neutering Charter Schools Letter to the Editor, Investor’s Business Daily We agree with “Charter Schools in Choke Hold,” Anna Bray Duff, IBD, August 13, because the education establishment cannot abide fresh ideas or competition. The way to eliminate charter schools is to put [Read More...]

August 12, 1999Robert Holland

Raising Teacher Salaries Letter to the Editor, The New York Times To the Editor: Would elevating teachers’ salaries to the level of engineers’ mean that the quality of teaching would match that of engineering (Week in Review, August 8)? Not if teacher education [Read More...]

August 6, 1999Robert Holland

California Started Escape From Linguistic Ghetto Article Published in the Human Events Maybe it’s time for Easterners to quit sneering that California’s the Left Coast, the spawning grounds for loony notions that eventually sweep the nation.  Once again, Californians’ exercise of direct democracy is leading the [Read More...]

August 6, 1999Robert Holland

Making the Grade Letter to the Editor, U.S. News and World Report Ben Wildavsky’s dispatch from Waco, Texas, in the July 19 issue (“When Johnny can’t read — try tough love”) conveyed the pain that will be felt as accountability comes to communities [Read More...]

July 21, 1999Robert Holland

GOALS 2000: The Hour Has Arrived To Re-Evaluate The Federal Role in Education Reform Issue Brief The Goals 2000 movement made its public debut 10 years ago when President Bush and the nation’s Governors met at a National Education Summit and agreed on national goals for schools. The gathering occurred amid a burst of [Read More...]