Author Archives: Don Soifer
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Virginia Charter School Fact Sheet
January 23, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief What are they? Public schools that are freed from some of the bureaucratic regulations governing regular public schools. In exchange for this latitude to innovate, sponsors of charter schools sign binding agreements promising to be accountable for results. [Read More...] -
Virginia’s New Charter School Plan Means Business
January 22, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief Charter schools are one of the nation’s biggest school-reform success stories of the past decade. With almost 3,000 charters now in operation, more than two-thirds currently have waiting lists. There are charters in 36 states, led by educators, [Read More...] -
The No Child Left Behind Act Turns Two
January 8, 2004- Don Soifer Issue Brief The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) enters its terrible twos this week, and already the tantrums have begun. But so has a new commitment to improving academic results around the nation, and to providing parents with [Read More...] -
New Federal Testing Rule Brings Fairness, Along with Results
December 9, 2003- Don Soifer Issue Brief A seemingly small and technical new rule announced this week by the federal Department of Education will likely produce big advantages – for thousands of public school districts and millions of children across the United States. The so-called [Read More...] -
Chicago’s Bilingual Education Programs Show Poor Results
November 7, 2003- Don Soifer Issue Brief Chicago, like other American cities, has seen its population evolve significantly over the past two decades. But where other urban school districts have embraced innovative strategies to adapt to such changes, the bilingual education program put into place [Read More...] -
With Flamingo Case, Supreme Court Can Help Level the Postal Playing Field
October 27, 2003- Don Soifer Vigorous competition has made many types of day-to-day communication better and more convenient, as seen with overnight delivery, faxes, email, and electronic bill payment. But the Postal Service’s legal monopolies deny the mail-using public the opportunity to benefit from similar [Read More...] -
Reform Moves Ahead in Massachusetts, Even as Bilingual Teachers Fail English Fluency Test
August 18, 2003- Don Soifer Issue Brief Last November, Massachusetts voters resoundingly approved a law that made major changes to the state’s bilingual education programs. The law effectively replaced bilingual education with structured English immersion classes that teach children mostly in English. Another important provision [Read More...] -
Education’s Vested Interests Seek to Roll Back Reform of Bilingual Education
August 5, 2003- Don Soifer Issue Brief One of the boldest education reforms advanced by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) can be summarized in three words: Teach them English. NCLB replaced a $300 million federal grant program supporting bilingual education programs that trap limited-English-proficient (LEP) [Read More...] -
Bilingual Ed Needs More From Mike
July 2, 2003- Don Soifer Article published in The New York Daily News Almost lost in the recent flurry of news from the school system has been Mayor Bloomberg’s $20 million reform of bilingual education. It’s an event that merits more attention, because while the [Read More...] -
The Compelling Case for Postal Privatization
March 31, 2003- Don Soifer Issue Brief President Bush created the Commission on the U.S. Postal Service with an executive order charging the panel with considering, among other things, “the extent to which postal monopoly restrictions continue to advance the public interest.” Halfway through its [Read More...]