Andrew J. Coulson

Michigan is facing a projected $2.8 billion state budget shortfall. As a result, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has cut $212 million from public school spending -- rousing the ire of parents and education officials around the state. But if Michigan merely converted all its conventional public schools to charters, without altering current funding formulas, it would save $3.5 billion. … more

Professional advancement in a bureaucracy comes from increasing one’s budget, not from achieving more with less as it does in the private sector. … more

The implications of Tooley’s findings are profound. Opposition to parental choice programs has often hinged on the belief that they would hurt the poor. In the wake of these results from Africa and India, it is difficult to imagine how that belief could be sustained. … more

This paper summarizes the comments offered by Dr. George Clowes and Dr. Jay P. Greene on my essay "Forging Consensus: Can the School Choice Community Come Together on an Explicit Goal and a Plan for Achieving It," as well as providing my responses to those comments.[1] Though it was written shortly after the comments were submitted, its release was deferred until permission to publish them was received. A complete, slightly revised version of Dr. Clowes’ comments is now available on-line.[2]
The sections that follow present the reviewers’ comments, grouped by topic. Comments are formatted as block quotations and ascribed to either Dr. Clowes (GC) or Dr. Greene (JPG). My responses appear in the body of the text.
Dr. Clowes is a senior fellow of the Heartland Institute and contributing editor of the paper School Choice News. Dr. Greene is a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute, and author of numerous scientific studies of American schools and school choice programs.

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[1] http://www.mackinac.org/6517

[2] http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=16914 … more

Asian students consistently outperformed those in the United States, while their parents downplayed their accomplishments. American parents, unaware of their children’s poor showings, tended to think their children were doing very well. … more

Given Catholic schools’ superior social and academic effects, it would seem sensible to structure education policy so as to make Catholic schooling more readily available, especially to low-income and minority families. We have done the opposite. … more

The notion that America’s public school problems are confined to inner cities, and that our wealthy suburbs produce world-beating high school graduates, is a myth. … more

If people are the lifeblood of a city, then Detroit is bleeding to death. Staunching the flow will require a dramatic improvement in the city’s schools. … more

For the past 87 years, the Netherlands has enjoyed a universal, nationwide school-voucher program. Dutch high school seniors and recent graduates score first in the world in mathematics, second in science and fourth in literacy. … more

Can the School Choice Community Come Together on an Explicit Goal and a Plan for Achieving It? … more

Senior Fellow Andrew Coulson writes for The Independent Review, defending tax credits as the best vehicle for choice in education. … more

Mr. Andrew J. Coulson writes this introspective piece embodying the exact characteristics described in its title: clear eyes, sincere hearts, open minds. A non-political, logical, heart-felt, and very necessary in-depth look at America's system of schooling. … more