Giving parents the choice of which public schools their children attend is an idea supported by most in a new poll.
The annual Gallup Poll on attitudes about schools, released Thursday, finds 62% favor choice; 31% are opposed.
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Private-school aid put to test
Sept. 6, 1990
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MILWAUKEE - An experiment that mixes public money and private education began this week under the intense scrutiny of everyone from President Bush to parents.
"Parental Choice" allows the state to pay $2,500 for each of 450 children from low-income families toward private school tuition. It's the first program of its kind in the nation.
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New school choice plans merely stoke the debate
Sept. 11, 1990
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Some educators fear the death of public-school education. Others argue a decade of reform hasn't worked, so free-market competition deserves a chance.
Regardless of sides taken, school choice - the notion that parents should pick where to send their children to school regardless of where they live - is building momentum.
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Colleges scramble for students
Oct. 15, 1990
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LOUISVILLE - As Darin Dill strolled through a convention hall on a recent Sunday afternoon, he got the feeling that "everybody is trying to be my friend."
He was right.
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Cost shouldn't decide school choice
Oct. 15, 1990
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Forget the big numbers. Don't let the $20,000 price tags scare you.
If you want to go to college, experts say, the money is there.
You might be repaying some of it to a bank for 10 years after you graduate, but it's there.
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In class, off the streets; Elementary pupils in low-income areas go to school year-round; Kids give up vacations to get ahead
Dec. 19, 1990
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NEW ORLEANS - At 10 a.m., on the corner of Louisa and Edna streets two miles from the French Quarter, about a dozen young men are hanging out.
All are in their teens or 20s. All are leaning against cars or storefronts. All appear to be doing nothing but talking.
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Alexander to push for school choice
March 19, 1991
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Lamar Alexander, in his first day on the job Monday as U.S. Secretary of Education, made it clear that pushing the concept of school choice will be a top priority during his tenure.
Alexander, the former Tennessee governor who takes over from ousted Education Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos, says parents' right to pick which school their children attend ought to be "a given" in this country.
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Governors to consider student test
March 26, 1991
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The controversial notion of a national exam for U.S. students got an important boost Monday when a panel advising the nation's governors suggested a new testing system to measure educational progress.
It's one of the steps the National Governors' Association will now consider in measuring progress toward U.S. education goals. A national exam raises the specter of the federal government dictating what's taught in schools, but panel member Lauren Resnick suggested a two-pronged system.
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Bush assembles education strategy
Apr. 16, 1991
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President Bush will try again Thursday to stake his claim to the title of "education president."
The key: a reform initiative emphasizing experimental schools, a voluntary national testing system and parental choice in schools.
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Governors think Bush has the right idea
July 17, 1991
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Will President Bush be remembered as a hero of U.S. education?
The nation's governors are optimistic about Bush's "America 2000" education reform plan, which would create a new national examination system, enable new model schools to be designed, allow every adult to become a lifelong student and coordinate social and nutrition services for children outside of classrooms.
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SAT finds teens at loss for words
Aug. 27, 1991
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High school seniors' verbal skills are at their lowest level, the latest Scholastic Aptitude Test scores show.
The overall SAT score, released Monday by The College Board, has plummeted 10 points in four years to 896; eight of those 10 points are in verbal scores.
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Public college tuition rises fast
Oct. 16, 1991
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Tuition increases at public colleges are back in double-digit territory - 12% - for the first time since 1983, says a College Board survey out today.
Meanwhile, increases at four-year private colleges slowed a third straight year to 7%. Even so, tuition and fees at those schools have hit $10,017, first time ever over $10,000.
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Educators, public differ on schooling
Oct. 23, 1991
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The USA's top teachers and principals think the public has something to learn about education, a new Gallup survey shows.
Five hundred educators who have been named their state's Teachers and Principals of the Year since 1985 were given the same questions as the public had been asked earlier.
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Getting the bills paid; Initiative is required for scholarships
Nov. 11, 1991
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Billie Jo Kline of York, Pa., paid $433.50 to attend Lafayette College as a full-time resident student this year. Total cost at Lafayette is $20,375.
Meta Jones of Washington, D.C., paid nothing to go to Princeton, where a year costs $21,881.
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Grade A education on a shoestring
Nov. 18, 1991
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HARRISON, Ark. - The 9,567 folks in this north Arkansas mountain town like to call themselves frugal, especially about their schools.
Donna Braymer, mother of three, tells how teachers require students to write on both sides of a paper to save money. She says it as a compliment to the teacher, not a complaint.
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FAMU-lous results; Florida A&&M president's work pays off
Jan. 22, 1992
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Dawn Ridgnal, straight-A high school student from Kansas City, was going to Stanford until Fred Humphries entered her life.
Raymond Gilstrap of Dallas, with a near-perfect 1500 SAT score, was deciding between CalTech and MIT until Fred Humphries called.
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U.S. kids still lag in math, science
Feb. 6, 1992
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WASHINGTON - U.S. students once again have scored near the bottom in the most comprehensive test ever, comparing their math and science skills with those in other countries, a new report said.
"This is not the kind of report that an America that likes to be first should be happy about," said Education Secretary Lamar Alexander.
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Less than world-class; U.S. pupils rank low in global tests
Feb. 6, 1992
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WASHINGTON - You can argue all you want about comparing apples and apples, and whether U.S. kids ought to be like kids in other countries, even if they could be.
But the conclusion of the newest international comparison of students' abilities in math and science, out Wednesday, is still clear:
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Pay now, study later in state plans
Feb. 19, 1992
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Thomas and Jan Givhan will finish paying for their youngest daughter's college education within five years.
That may not seem like a big deal. Lots of families are paying off college loans over a five-year period.
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How schools figure need; Formulas can be unforgiving
Feb. 19, 1992
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Parents' reaction to the college financial aid maze is no mystery - they're first bewildered, then often disappointed.
What is a mystery to parents, however, is how the process works.
How do schools determine how much parents should be paying for education?
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An ambitious plan to create a school system; Whittle makes new shock waves
Aug. 26, 1992
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Not a single school has been built, not a single student enrolled. But that hasn't kept Whittle Communications' proposed chain of for-profit schools from being one of the most closely watched education ventures in years.
