Catholic schools are closing their doors all across America, leaving future generations with nowhere to turn for the high-quality academics and values-based education so many families are seeking. The number of students attending Catholic schools in the US fell from about 5.2 million in 1965 to around two million in 2008.
Pioneer Institute believes these schools are worth preserving. For over a decade, we have raised our voice in support of these excellent academic options, and tools such as tax credit scholarships that would enable more families to attend.
Pioneer has held public forums, published research on the benefits of Catholic education, on successful models such as Cristo Rey, and on policy changes that would stop the Massachusetts education department from depriving religious school students of special needs services and school nurses. The Institute has also convened key stakeholders, appeared in local and national press, filed amicus briefs, produced a feature a documentary film, and much more.
Atul Gawande has a great piece in this week’s New Yorker on the many varied ways to get to additional, and even universal coverage.
Sidebar: Great, with the exception of his high praise for Paul “Ugh” Krugman, who he notes “received a Nobel Prize in Economics in part for showing that trade patterns and the geographic location of industrial production are also path-dependent.” Fact is, the insight that technology and trade patterns were “path-dependent” was well known to Piero Sraffa, neo-Marxian economist and author of The Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Yes, I know such obscurities can only be explained by personal histories. Dark histories. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the man. To all accounts Piero was a lovely human being unlike Ugh. End of sidebar.
The common argument made in favor of universal care is that finally we would join the rest of the industrialized world–but usually with reference to becoming more like Europe. Well, you might want to reconsider the desire to join the enlightened after reading the National Center for Policy Analysis’ report on large unfunded liabilities for their generous health, pension and welfare programs. Quoting from the Executive Summary:
These countries remain politically committed to maintaining fiscal discipline, but large portions of their government budgets are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis. That means that no real resources are set aside and invested each year by government or individuals to prefund future expenditures on such programs. Spending on promised retirement and healthcare benefits for the elderly will increase.
Given that the Baby Boom generated has greyed (fewer workers to pay more generous benefits to lots of 68ers):
– The average EU country would need to have more than four times (434%) its current annual gross domestic product (GDP) in the bank today, earning interest at the government’s borrowing rate, in order to fund current policies indefinitely.
Scary numbers (and, yes, scary numbers always need to be verified, so…)
– By 2020, the average EU country will need to raise the tax rate to 55 percent of GDP
– By 2035, to 57 percent of GDP, and
– By 2050, to more than 60 percent of GDP.
On the US, the author (Jagadeesh Gokhale) notes that the “shortfall for Social Security and Medicare alone has been somewhat smaller than the EU average, at 6.5 percent of future GDP.” Where do we stand in comparison on actions needed? Yup, scary.
– The US would need to save and invest 8.2% of GDP beginning now and continuing every year forever to pay expected future benefits without future tax increases.
– This could be accomplished by more than doubling the current 15.3 percent payroll tax on employers and employees, immediately and forever.
Gulp. I love France and Italy, but I am not sure we have thought through the implications of being like them…
Ken Lewis’ dramatic firing of John Thain from BofA only highlights the next departure — Ken Lewis.
He bought Merrill at the height of the crisis and clearly fumbled the due diligence on the deal. Otherwise, why does he need $20b in funds and $120b in guarentees from the Feds to do the deal only a few short months later?
A hidden winner in all this? Old Friend Brian Moynihan, who takes over for Thain.
The Education Intelligence Agency‘s just released scoop, entitled “The National Education Agency shares the Wealth to the Tune of $11.7 Million,” gives you a breakdown of where all those teachers’ dues went. (Supplementing members’ dues is “a small percentage derived from advertising and other miscellaneous revenues” and “sponsorship funds from major corporations: $25,000 from Verizon, $67,000 from Target, and $71,000 from Hyundai.”) Keep checking in with EIA, as they will soon have further revelations from NEA’s disclosure report.
An Education Intelligence Agency analysis of NEA’s financial disclosure report for the 2007-08 fiscal year reveals the national union contributed $11.7 million to a wide variety of advocacy groups, charities, and advisors. The total is about the same as it was in the previous fiscal year, but does not include spending from the final two months of the 2008 election campaign.
The expenditures fall into broad categories of community outreach grants, charitable contributions, and payments for services rendered. In this list, EIA has deliberately omitted spending such as media buys, or payments to pollsters or consultants that have no obvious ideological component. Nor does it include any direct payments to NEA affiliates. The grants range from more than $1.2 million to fight a Florida property tax initiative down to smaller amounts to groups such as ACORN, FairTest, Planned Parenthood, and People for the American Way.
As you review the list of NEA beneficiaries, there is one that stands out as an odd duck. Because I am a nice guy and would not want to tax your workday mind, I have enhanced your powers of discernment by giving you a bold hint!
ACORN – $178,000
AFL-CIO – $190,588
AIDS Walk – $5,000
Alliance for a Better Minnesota – $33,333
American Institutes for Research – $26,466
American Library Association – $10,000
Asian American Justice Center – $5,000
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund – $6,000
Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies – $5,000
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance – $5,000
Baptist Center for Ethics – $10,000
Campaign for America’s Future – $45,000
Casa de Angeles Foundation – $7,500
Center for Civic Action – $25,000
Center for Community Change – $25,000
Center for Economic Organizing – $12,000
Center for Law and Education – $50,000
Center for Policy Alternatives – $5,000
Center for Teaching Quality – $250,697
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – $81,500
Children’s Defense Fund – $5,000
Coalition for Our Communities – $750,000
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists – $5,000
Coalition on Human Needs – $6,000
Committee for Education Funding – $13,570
Committee on States – $25,000
Communities for Quality Education – $700,000
Community Teachers Institute – $10,000
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. – $31,700
Council of Chief State School Officers – $171,248
Council of State Governments – $14,000
Democracy Alliance – $110,000
Democratic GAIN – $10,000
Democratic Leadership Council – $45,000
Denver 2008 Convention Planning Committee – $1,000,000
Economic Policy Institute – $325,000
Education Commission of the States – $69,031
Education Development Center – $5,000
Education Law Center – $10,000
Everybody Wins DC – $7,100
Fair Elections Legal Network – $15,000
FairTest – $35,000
Ford’s Theatre – $10,000
Fuse Washington – $15,000
Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network – $157,500
GOP Convention Strategies – $89,000
Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice – $250,000
Harvard Labor and Worklife Program – $5,000
Health Care for America Now! – $500,000
Healthy Schools Network – $5,000
Human Rights Campaign – $15,000
Indianapolis Voting Rights Coalition – $5,000
Institute for Collaborative Leadership – $15,000
Iowa Politics.com – $7,500
Japanese American Citizens League – $5,000
Jobs for America’s Graduates – $5,000
Jobs with Justice – $20,500
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies – $10,000
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights – $17,000
League of United Latin American Citizens – $10,000
Learning First Alliance – $55,875
Learning Project – $11,494
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund – $10,000
National Action Network – $15,000
NASA Pre-Service Teacher Program – $10,000
National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education – $5,750
National Association for Bilingual Education – $5,000
National Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans – $5,500
National Association of Hispanic Journalists – $5,000
National Association of Legislative and Political Specialists for Education – $13,019
National Baptist Voice – $5,950
National Black Caucus of State Legislators Labor Roundtable – $10,500
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards – $7,500
National Coalition of ESEA Title I Parents – $5,000
National Coalition on Health Care – $25,000
National Conference of Democratic Mayors – $7,500
National Conference of State Legislatures – $54,775
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education – $279,230
National Council on Black Civic Participation – $5,000
National Council of Nonprofits – $10,000
National Indian Education Association – $15,400
National Pan-Hellenic Council Foundation – $10,640
National Partnership for Women and Families – $5,000
National Parent Teachers Association – $22,247
National Staff Development Council – $25,000
National State Teachers of the Year – $5,000
National Urban League – $22,980
National Women’s Law Center – $10,000
Nebraskans United – $25,000
New Democratic Network – $25,000
New Teacher Center – $150,000
No on 10 – $350,000
North Carolina New Schools Project – $100,000
One Wisconsin Now – $25,000
Organization of Chinese Americans – $10,000
Parent Teacher Home Visit Project – $25,000
Partnership for 21st Century Skills – $52,500
People for the American Way – $125,000
People for Our Public Schools – $450,000
Planned Parenthood – $5,000
Princeton Organizational Advisors – $187,950
Progress Michigan – $25,000
Progress Ohio – $20,000
Progressive Future Action Center – $315,000
Project New West – $281,125
Protect Colorado’s Future – $177,000
Public Agenda Foundation – $17,500
Public Education Defense Fund – $1,224,000
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition – $10,000
Rebuild America’s Schools – $20,000
Republican Main Street Partnership – $50,000
Ripon Society – $15,000
SEIU – $5,000
Sons of the Revolution – $5,000
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center – $5,000
State Legislative Leaders Foundation – $5,000
State Net – $46,675
Task Force Foundation – $10,000
Teachers Count – $50,000
Teaching for Change – $14,922
The Foundation – $10,000
This Is America with Dennis Wholey – $150,000
University of Iowa Center for Evaluation and Assessment – $40,325
U.S. Action – $220,000
U.S. Fund for UNICEF – $7,500
U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute – $25,000
Utahns for Public Schools – $231,944
Vote No: Protect Our Constitution – $25,000
WAND Education Fund – $12,500
Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation – $142,927
Washington Internship Institute – $5,000
Will Steger Foundation – $9,370
Women’s Campaign Forum – $20,000
Working America – $800,000
Youth Development Research Fund – $5,000
In Massachusetts, the Know-Nothing amendments prevent more than 100,000 urban families with children in chronically underperforming school districts from receiving scholarship vouchers that would allow them access to additional educational alternatives. These legal barriers, also known as Blaine amendments, restrict government funding from flowing to religiously affiliated organizations in nearly 40 states and are a violation of the first and fourteenth amendments.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case this year, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, that could end these amendments. In 2018, Pioneer produced a 30-minute documentary on the impact of the Blaine amendments on families in Massachusetts, Georgia, and Michigan.
“She’s a good girl. She helps me a lot. She has big, big dreams. I don’t have the money, but she has big dreams. I hope she’s going to get everything, but she works so hard. She works so hard in school.”
“Our family is needing to make some really big sacrifices because we believe this is important, and so, we’re basically going to do whatever it takes… Sometimes we look at each other and go ‘I don’t know if I can do it again another month…’”
“A lot of the families have to sacrifice and work multiple jobs… And just scraping together enough money to just make tuition, just the basics.”
“It is discriminatory, that parents who want to choose an alternative to public school for their children, would not in any way receive any compensation for that, whether it be tax credit, whether it be a voucher…”
In the 1840s, nativist movement leaders formed official political parties and local chapters of the national Native American Party (later the American Party), although they continued to be commonly known as the Know-Nothing Party. Politicians sought to insert provisions into state constitutions against Catholics who refused to renounce the pope. The Know-Nothing movement brought bigotry and hatred to a new level of violence and organization.
The party’s legacy endured in the post-Civil War era, with laws and constitutional amendments it supported, still today severely limiting parents’ educational choices. A federal constitutional amendment was proposed by Speaker of the House James Blaine prohibiting money raised by taxation in any State to be under the control of any religious sect; nor shall any money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations. These were then named the Blaine Amendments of 1875.
in recent decades, often in response to challenges to school choice programs, the U.S. Supreme Court has demonstrated great interest in examining the issues of educational alternatives and attempts limit parental options. Massachusetts plays a key role in this debate. The Bay State was a key center of the Know-Nothing movement and has the oldest version of Anti-Aid Amendments in the nation, as well as a second such amendment approved in 1917. Two-fifths of Massachusetts residents are Catholic, and its Catholic schools outperform the state’s public schools, which are the best in the nation.
Help families like the Costons in Michigan to end the bigoted Blaine amendments in their state that are blocking tuition scholarships and other types of financial support that would make it possible for families to send their children to high-quality schools that are best suited for their children.
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Atul Gawande has a great piece in this week’s New Yorker on the many varied ways to get to additional, and even universal coverage.
Sidebar: Great, with the exception of his high praise for Paul “Ugh” Krugman, who he notes “received a Nobel Prize in Economics in part for showing that trade patterns and the geographic location of industrial production are also path-dependent.” Fact is, the insight that technology and trade patterns were “path-dependent” was well known to Piero Sraffa, neo-Marxian economist and author of The Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Yes, I know such obscurities can only be explained by personal histories. Dark histories. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the man. To all accounts Piero was a lovely human being unlike Ugh. End of sidebar.
The common argument made in favor of universal care is that finally we would join the rest of the industrialized world–but usually with reference to becoming more like Europe. Well, you might want to reconsider the desire to join the enlightened after reading the National Center for Policy Analysis’ report on large unfunded liabilities for their generous health, pension and welfare programs. Quoting from the Executive Summary:
These countries remain politically committed to maintaining fiscal discipline, but large portions of their government budgets are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis. That means that no real resources are set aside and invested each year by government or individuals to prefund future expenditures on such programs. Spending on promised retirement and healthcare benefits for the elderly will increase.
Given that the Baby Boom generated has greyed (fewer workers to pay more generous benefits to lots of 68ers):
– The average EU country would need to have more than four times (434%) its current annual gross domestic product (GDP) in the bank today, earning interest at the government’s borrowing rate, in order to fund current policies indefinitely.
Scary numbers (and, yes, scary numbers always need to be verified, so…)
– By 2020, the average EU country will need to raise the tax rate to 55 percent of GDP
– By 2035, to 57 percent of GDP, and
– By 2050, to more than 60 percent of GDP.
On the US, the author (Jagadeesh Gokhale) notes that the “shortfall for Social Security and Medicare alone has been somewhat smaller than the EU average, at 6.5 percent of future GDP.” Where do we stand in comparison on actions needed? Yup, scary.
– The US would need to save and invest 8.2% of GDP beginning now and continuing every year forever to pay expected future benefits without future tax increases.
– This could be accomplished by more than doubling the current 15.3 percent payroll tax on employers and employees, immediately and forever.
Gulp. I love France and Italy, but I am not sure we have thought through the implications of being like them…
Ken Lewis’ dramatic firing of John Thain from BofA only highlights the next departure — Ken Lewis.
He bought Merrill at the height of the crisis and clearly fumbled the due diligence on the deal. Otherwise, why does he need $20b in funds and $120b in guarentees from the Feds to do the deal only a few short months later?
A hidden winner in all this? Old Friend Brian Moynihan, who takes over for Thain.
The Education Intelligence Agency‘s just released scoop, entitled “The National Education Agency shares the Wealth to the Tune of $11.7 Million,” gives you a breakdown of where all those teachers’ dues went. (Supplementing members’ dues is “a small percentage derived from advertising and other miscellaneous revenues” and “sponsorship funds from major corporations: $25,000 from Verizon, $67,000 from Target, and $71,000 from Hyundai.”) Keep checking in with EIA, as they will soon have further revelations from NEA’s disclosure report.
An Education Intelligence Agency analysis of NEA’s financial disclosure report for the 2007-08 fiscal year reveals the national union contributed $11.7 million to a wide variety of advocacy groups, charities, and advisors. The total is about the same as it was in the previous fiscal year, but does not include spending from the final two months of the 2008 election campaign.
The expenditures fall into broad categories of community outreach grants, charitable contributions, and payments for services rendered. In this list, EIA has deliberately omitted spending such as media buys, or payments to pollsters or consultants that have no obvious ideological component. Nor does it include any direct payments to NEA affiliates. The grants range from more than $1.2 million to fight a Florida property tax initiative down to smaller amounts to groups such as ACORN, FairTest, Planned Parenthood, and People for the American Way.
As you review the list of NEA beneficiaries, there is one that stands out as an odd duck. Because I am a nice guy and would not want to tax your workday mind, I have enhanced your powers of discernment by giving you a bold hint!
ACORN – $178,000
AFL-CIO – $190,588
AIDS Walk – $5,000
Alliance for a Better Minnesota – $33,333
American Institutes for Research – $26,466
American Library Association – $10,000
Asian American Justice Center – $5,000
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund – $6,000
Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies – $5,000
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance – $5,000
Baptist Center for Ethics – $10,000
Campaign for America’s Future – $45,000
Casa de Angeles Foundation – $7,500
Center for Civic Action – $25,000
Center for Community Change – $25,000
Center for Economic Organizing – $12,000
Center for Law and Education – $50,000
Center for Policy Alternatives – $5,000
Center for Teaching Quality – $250,697
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – $81,500
Children’s Defense Fund – $5,000
Coalition for Our Communities – $750,000
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists – $5,000
Coalition on Human Needs – $6,000
Committee for Education Funding – $13,570
Committee on States – $25,000
Communities for Quality Education – $700,000
Community Teachers Institute – $10,000
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. – $31,700
Council of Chief State School Officers – $171,248
Council of State Governments – $14,000
Democracy Alliance – $110,000
Democratic GAIN – $10,000
Democratic Leadership Council – $45,000
Denver 2008 Convention Planning Committee – $1,000,000
Economic Policy Institute – $325,000
Education Commission of the States – $69,031
Education Development Center – $5,000
Education Law Center – $10,000
Everybody Wins DC – $7,100
Fair Elections Legal Network – $15,000
FairTest – $35,000
Ford’s Theatre – $10,000
Fuse Washington – $15,000
Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network – $157,500
GOP Convention Strategies – $89,000
Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice – $250,000
Harvard Labor and Worklife Program – $5,000
Health Care for America Now! – $500,000
Healthy Schools Network – $5,000
Human Rights Campaign – $15,000
Indianapolis Voting Rights Coalition – $5,000
Institute for Collaborative Leadership – $15,000
Iowa Politics.com – $7,500
Japanese American Citizens League – $5,000
Jobs for America’s Graduates – $5,000
Jobs with Justice – $20,500
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies – $10,000
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights – $17,000
League of United Latin American Citizens – $10,000
Learning First Alliance – $55,875
Learning Project – $11,494
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund – $10,000
National Action Network – $15,000
NASA Pre-Service Teacher Program – $10,000
National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education – $5,750
National Association for Bilingual Education – $5,000
National Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans – $5,500
National Association of Hispanic Journalists – $5,000
National Association of Legislative and Political Specialists for Education – $13,019
National Baptist Voice – $5,950
National Black Caucus of State Legislators Labor Roundtable – $10,500
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards – $7,500
National Coalition of ESEA Title I Parents – $5,000
National Coalition on Health Care – $25,000
National Conference of Democratic Mayors – $7,500
National Conference of State Legislatures – $54,775
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education – $279,230
National Council on Black Civic Participation – $5,000
National Council of Nonprofits – $10,000
National Indian Education Association – $15,400
National Pan-Hellenic Council Foundation – $10,640
National Partnership for Women and Families – $5,000
National Parent Teachers Association – $22,247
National Staff Development Council – $25,000
National State Teachers of the Year – $5,000
National Urban League – $22,980
National Women’s Law Center – $10,000
Nebraskans United – $25,000
New Democratic Network – $25,000
New Teacher Center – $150,000
No on 10 – $350,000
North Carolina New Schools Project – $100,000
One Wisconsin Now – $25,000
Organization of Chinese Americans – $10,000
Parent Teacher Home Visit Project – $25,000
Partnership for 21st Century Skills – $52,500
People for the American Way – $125,000
People for Our Public Schools – $450,000
Planned Parenthood – $5,000
Princeton Organizational Advisors – $187,950
Progress Michigan – $25,000
Progress Ohio – $20,000
Progressive Future Action Center – $315,000
Project New West – $281,125
Protect Colorado’s Future – $177,000
Public Agenda Foundation – $17,500
Public Education Defense Fund – $1,224,000
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition – $10,000
Rebuild America’s Schools – $20,000
Republican Main Street Partnership – $50,000
Ripon Society – $15,000
SEIU – $5,000
Sons of the Revolution – $5,000
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center – $5,000
State Legislative Leaders Foundation – $5,000
State Net – $46,675
Task Force Foundation – $10,000
Teachers Count – $50,000
Teaching for Change – $14,922
The Foundation – $10,000
This Is America with Dennis Wholey – $150,000
University of Iowa Center for Evaluation and Assessment – $40,325
U.S. Action – $220,000
U.S. Fund for UNICEF – $7,500
U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute – $25,000
Utahns for Public Schools – $231,944
Vote No: Protect Our Constitution – $25,000
WAND Education Fund – $12,500
Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation – $142,927
Washington Internship Institute – $5,000
Will Steger Foundation – $9,370
Women’s Campaign Forum – $20,000
Working America – $800,000
Youth Development Research Fund – $5,000
So you want European-style health care
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Healthcare, News /byAtul Gawande has a great piece in this week’s New Yorker on the many varied ways to get to additional, and even universal coverage.
Sidebar: Great, with the exception of his high praise for Paul “Ugh” Krugman, who he notes “received a Nobel Prize in Economics in part for showing that trade patterns and the geographic location of industrial production are also path-dependent.” Fact is, the insight that technology and trade patterns were “path-dependent” was well known to Piero Sraffa, neo-Marxian economist and author of The Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Yes, I know such obscurities can only be explained by personal histories. Dark histories. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the man. To all accounts Piero was a lovely human being unlike Ugh. End of sidebar.
The common argument made in favor of universal care is that finally we would join the rest of the industrialized world–but usually with reference to becoming more like Europe. Well, you might want to reconsider the desire to join the enlightened after reading the National Center for Policy Analysis’ report on large unfunded liabilities for their generous health, pension and welfare programs. Quoting from the Executive Summary:
Given that the Baby Boom generated has greyed (fewer workers to pay more generous benefits to lots of 68ers):
Scary numbers (and, yes, scary numbers always need to be verified, so…)
On the US, the author (Jagadeesh Gokhale) notes that the “shortfall for Social Security and Medicare alone has been somewhat smaller than the EU average, at 6.5 percent of future GDP.” Where do we stand in comparison on actions needed? Yup, scary.
Gulp. I love France and Italy, but I am not sure we have thought through the implications of being like them…
Ken Lewis is on the clock
/1 Comment/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byKen Lewis’ dramatic firing of John Thain from BofA only highlights the next departure — Ken Lewis.
He bought Merrill at the height of the crisis and clearly fumbled the due diligence on the deal. Otherwise, why does he need $20b in funds and $120b in guarentees from the Feds to do the deal only a few short months later?
A hidden winner in all this? Old Friend Brian Moynihan, who takes over for Thain.
NEA's largesse from their disclosure report
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byThe Education Intelligence Agency‘s just released scoop, entitled “The National Education Agency shares the Wealth to the Tune of $11.7 Million,” gives you a breakdown of where all those teachers’ dues went. (Supplementing members’ dues is “a small percentage derived from advertising and other miscellaneous revenues” and “sponsorship funds from major corporations: $25,000 from Verizon, $67,000 from Target, and $71,000 from Hyundai.”) Keep checking in with EIA, as they will soon have further revelations from NEA’s disclosure report.
As you review the list of NEA beneficiaries, there is one that stands out as an odd duck. Because I am a nice guy and would not want to tax your workday mind, I have enhanced your powers of discernment by giving you a bold hint!