Author Archives: Don Soifer
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Interest In Parental Choice Is Growing In Virginia
September 17, 2004- Don Soifer Article Published in The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot With a new school year underway, Virginia is at long last using tools to advance parental choice in education – and grass-roots interest is stirring. Over the summer, two dozen parents and educators from [Read More...] -
Does National Education Association’s Agenda Match Its Members’?
September 9, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief The National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest teacher union, is a self-proclaimed champion for the cause of quality public education. So the union’s leaders and publications have avowed at every opportunity as the main reason it devotes [Read More...] -
‘No Child Left Behind:’ What Doesn’t NEA Get?
August 3, 2004- Don Soifer Article published in Investors Business Daily From California to Connecticut, immigrant children who entered public school unable to read, write, or speak much English are beginning to gain literacy, thanks in part to an extra push the federal No Child [Read More...] -
The Learning Curve: One Language Or Two
July 17, 2004- Don Soifer Letter to the Editor of The New York Times Samuel G. Freedman mentions the criticism that it is”almost impossible” to get children out of bilingual programs once they are enrolled (“On Education” column, July 14). This observation is more than [Read More...] -
Can Recent Gains For English Learners Survive The 2004 Election Year?
July 15, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief From California to Connecticut, immigrant children who entered public school unable to read, write, or speak much English are beginning to gain literacy, thanks in part to an extra push the federal No Child Left Behind Act has [Read More...] -
Proposed Special Education Laws Seek To Reduce Overlabeling Of Children
June 14, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief Are funding incentives in America’s special education system causing school districts to place children there who are not truly disabled? Congress has concluded this is a strong possibility, and reform bills passed by the House and Senate offer [Read More...] -
The Facts About Bilingual Education In The Chicago Public Schools
April 2, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief The population of English learners in the Chicago Public Schools is large and growing. But the city’s bilingual education programs are among the nation’s worst-performing, by any number of measures. The segregated programs have demonstrated a chronically poor [Read More...] -
Good Ideas: Six Valuable State and Local Education Reforms
April 1, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief Public education in the United States is intrinsically a local endeavor. The notion that state and local decision makers should have maximum flexibility in the use of education dollars is rooted in the belief that many of the [Read More...] -
Vibrant Charter Schools for Virgininia: An Idea Gathering Steam
February 18, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief In the midst of a legislative session otherwise distinguished by sharp division over tax policy, a new proposal to upgrade Virginia’s charter school law continues to move ahead with bipartisan support in the General Assembly. On Saturday, the [Read More...] -
New Evidence Suggests Ritalin Health Risks for Pre-Adolescents
February 9, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief Three new studies, conducted on animals, suggest that misuse of Ritalin in human children may have long-term brain and behavioral effects. Ritalin is a powerful stimulant used with growing frequency to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in [Read More...]