Month: July 2014

State Treasurer Ted Wheeler has proposed a new program intended to help Oregon students go to college in spite of the quickly ballooning cost of tuition. Under the proposed “Oregon Opportunity Initiative,” the state of Oregon could borrow money by selling general obligation bonds and then invest the proceeds. Students could receive grants or other subsidies from the earnings on this investment each year, while taxpayers would be responsible for paying back the bonds.

In response to parent complaints, Portland Public Schools will create a new ombudsman position. An ombudsman is a person within an organization who provides accountability and investigates complaints.

The “father of school choice” accurately predicted the modern voucher programs in Ohio and Wisconsin would spread to other states as vouchers demonstrated their effectiveness. Evidence, anecdotal and empirical, from such programs have ignited the interest of parents nationwide to demand similar opportunities for their children. Two decades after Friedman’s prediction, there are 51 school choice programs in 24 states and Washington, D.C.