Vouchers for Special Education: Are They a Good Idea?

According to a 2014 report by the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office, widespread racial disparities exist in how schoolchildren are punished. The longitudinal study looked at data from the past 15 years and found that minority students face a disproportional number of disciplinary actions in schools across the country, from those in affluent suburban neighborhoods to those in the poorest urban areas.

Graph from HechingerEd

These disparities have been known for some time in middle and high schools. However, this report reveals that unfair discipline procedures begin as early as preschool. The data, which was collected from 97,000 public schools across the country, paints a troubling picture:

• Black and Latino students are consistently punished more severely than white students for the same infractions.
• Nearly 50 percent of preschool children suspended multiple times are black, yet black children represent less than one-fifth of the preschool population.
• Black students are far more likely to be referred to law enforcement or arrested for a school-based offense than white students or other students of color.
• Black girls are suspended much more than girls of any other race.
• Students with disabilities, who represent only 12 percent of the public school population, account for almost 60 percent of students placed in seclusion.

Zero-Tolerance Policies

Many students suspended or placed in involuntary seclusion are put there because of the zero-tolerance policies that schools have put in place over the last two decades. Zero-tolerance

The ideas behind the development of charter schools began in the 1950s. However, credit for beginning the charter school movement generally goes to former American Federation of Teachers President Albert Shanker. Shanker called for reform to public schools in the late 1980s that inspired states to pass legislation permitting the establishment of charters. Minnesota took the lead in 1991, creating the nation’s first legislated charter school, which opened the following year.

The charter school movement was borne out of the nation’s desire to improve education. This has long been a point of emphasis in our country and is often a hallmark of presidential debates and congressional action. However, determining the best way to prepare the country’s youth for post-secondary education and the workforce can sometimes be difficult to do. Parents have many options for their child’s education, including charter schools, traditional public schools, private schools, magnet schools or homeschooling. But when it comes to the debate between charter schools and public schools, recent data collected by Mathematica Policy Research reveals that charter schools seem to be doing a better job of graduating students and preparing them for life after high school.

This video compares charter and magnet schools.

Educational Benefits

According to Mathematica, the graduation rate at charter schools is between 7-11 percent higher than public schools in the same area. Even for at-risk students, who may not have the financial,

Over the last 60 years, American public schools have become more and more diverse, with various ethnic and racial groups comprising a significant percentage of total enrollment. However, according to new data released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the diversity of public schools in this nation will change drastically over the next decade and appear much differently than today.

The Numbers

The number of white students enrolled in public schools has been falling for years. According to the NCES, between 2000 and 2010, white enrollment decreased from 61 percent to 52 percent of the total public school population. At the same time, the number of Hispanic students increased from 16 percent to 23 percent of total enrollment. This was a trend seen throughout the country over that timespan, with schools in the South and the West seeing the largest Hispanic enrollment increases of any region.

Graph from Huffington Post

The 2014 data released by the NCES shows that this trend has continued since 2010 and will continue for the foreseeable future. Through the 2022-2023 school year, the number of white students graduating is projected to decline by another 16 percent. A 14 percent decrease in the number of black students and a 29 percent decrease in the number of American Indian and Alaskan Native students that graduate from public high schools is expected as well. Conversely, other minority groups are expected

The teen suicide rate in the United States has tripled since the 1960s. Suicide is currently the third leading cause of death among adolescents, and the second leading cause of death among college students. Although suicide is highly preventable, with clearly identifiable warning signs, it continues to occur in many communities across the nation. In fact, in February and March 2014, ten New York City public school children took their own lives.

The Numbers

According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year, approximately 4,600 youth between the ages of 10 and 24 take their own lives. The vast majority of suicides are carried out via firearm or suffocation. However, it isn’t just deaths by suicide that are part of the issue. Nearly one-fourth of American high school students report thinking seriously about suicide, 13 percent report having a plan, and 8 percent report having actually attempted suicide in the last 12 months. That translates to well over 150,000 emergency room visits by children who have injured themselves as part of an attempt at taking their own life.

This video was created to promote the prevention and awareness of teen suicide.

It is well documented that boys are much more likely to die as a result of suicide. However, girls are much more likely to attempt taking their own life. In addition to these gender differences, ethnic and cultural