Three Ways Oregon Can Help Students Get Back on Track in 2025
By Kathryn Hickok The Portland Tribune recently reported that Oregon elementary students’ academic…
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The Siren Song of free school meals
By John A. Charles, Jr. Thirty years ago, an iconic goal of liberal…
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Oregon: Improvement Needed on “Education Freedom Report Card”
By Kathryn Hickok The Heritage Foundation annually releases an Education Freedom Report Card,…
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With Declining Enrollments, Why Is Portland Building Bigger High Schools?
By Ethan Rohrbach The modernization of Benson Polytechnic High School is nearing completion….
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Cascade Quarterly Spring 2024
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Portland Public Schools’ Building Costs Are Shaking Up Budgets
By Brittany Hjelte Worries about the Cascadia Subduction Zone have persisted for the…
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Universal School Choice Comes to Louisiana
By Kathryn Hickok On May 30, Louisiana’s legislature passed SB 313, establishing the…
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School Choice Expansion Continues with Missouri Education Package
By Kathryn Hickok This month, Missouri increased educational opportunity for families by expanding…
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Will School Choice Be on Oregon Ballots Soon?
By Kathryn Hickok 2023 is being called the “Year of Universal Education Choice,”…
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By 2027, All Alabama Students Will Have Educational Choice
By Kathryn Hickok This month, Alabama became the most recent state to increase…
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Testimony Before the House Committee on Education Regarding HB 4161
February 14, 2024 Chair Neron, Vice-Chairs Hudson and Wright, and Members of the…
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Survey: 72% of Parents Said They Considered a New School Last Year
By Kathryn Hickok The National School Choice Awareness Foundation conducted a survey of…
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Local Celebrations Highlight All the Ways Oregon Students Learn
By Kathryn Hickok January 21-27 is National School Choice Week, the world’s largest…
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Three Ways Oregon Can Help Kids Get the Education They Deserve
By Kathryn Hickok In 2023, eight states passed universal or near-universal educational choice…
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Pennsylvania’s Christmas Gift to K-12 Students
By Kathryn Hickok Christmas came early for children and parents in Pennsylvania when…
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Why 2023 Is the “Year of Universal School Choice”
By Kathryn Hickok Nationwide polling this year revealed seventy-one percent of voters say…
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Oklahoma’s Education Tax Credit Puts Families First
By Kathryn Hickok Oklahoma’s Parental Choice Tax Credit Program is the first universal,…
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What The New Homeschool Demographic Means For School Choice
By Mia Tiwana The homeschool landscape is changing. Our approach to school funding…
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North Carolina Becomes the 9th State to Offer Students Universal School Choice
By Kathryn Hickok North Carolina has become the ninth state to enact universal…
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Parents Say They Want More School Options for Their Children
By Kathryn Hickok As K-12 students return to school, about four-fifths of them…
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2023 – An Outstanding Year for School Choice
By Kathryn Hickok 2023 has been an outstanding year for school choice. Utah,…
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RealClear Opinion Poll Shows 71% of Registered Voters Support School Choice
By Kathryn Hickok A June 2023 RealClear Opinion Research survey of registered voters…
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The Memory Problem of Portland Public Schools
By Ethan Rohrbach For decades, Portland Public Schools (PPS) has tried to close…
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Learning from Great Teachers Is a Privilege, Not a Right
By James Swyter In 2015, representatives from Portland Public Schools (PPS) gave a…
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Educational Freedom: A Tale of Two Governors
By John A. Charles, Jr. Last November, voters in Arkansas elected Republican Sarah…
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Cascade Policy Institute Research Finds School Choice Programs Can Boost Public School Performance
February 16, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Cascade Policy Institute4850 SW Scholls Ferry Rd.,…
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Cascade Policy Institute Research Finds School Choice Programs Can Improve Participants’ Academic Performance and Educational Attainment
February 15, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Cascade Policy Institute4850 SW Scholls Ferry Rd.,…
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Press Release: Cascade Policy Institute Research Shows Education Savings Accounts Can Foster School Choice While Boosting Per-Student Funding
February 9, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Cascade Policy Institute4850 SW Scholls Ferry Rd.,…
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Report shows ESA programs can give students the options they need, while increasing per-student funding for those remaining in district schools
By Kathryn Hickok Cascade Policy Institute has released a new report evaluating the…
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Small Steps Toward Solving Oregon’s Education Crisis
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the “Doonesbury”…
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Education Savings Accounts Would Make Oregon Students Better Off
By Kathryn Hickok This is National School Choice Week, an annual celebration of…
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Education Savings Accounts: A School Choice Solution That Can Save States Money
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Critics of education savings accounts, or ESAs, claim that…
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Research Shows Voucher Programs Boost Test Scores and Improve Educational Attainment
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Vouchers and education savings accounts (ESAs) are a subset…
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Decades of Research Finds Voucher Programs Are Associated with Improved Public School Quality
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. In recent years, school vouchers and education savings accounts…
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2023 Should Be Oregon’s Year of Opportunity in K-12 Education
By Kathryn Hickok A June poll of Oregonians conducted by Nelson Research and…
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Arizona Offers All Children School Choice; Oregon Should, Too
By Kathryn Hickok This summer, Arizona expanded the nation’s first Education Savings Account…
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3 Ways New Oregon Leadership Can Improve K-12 Education Fast
By Kathryn Hickok Oregon soon will have a new governor and a new…
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Cascade Quarterly Summer 2022
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Press Release: The $60 Million Question: Cascade Policy Institute Questions PPS Bond Spending
May 24, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts: Eric Fruits, Ph.D.Office: (503) [email protected]…
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The $60 Million Question: What Is the Center for Black Student Excellence?
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. and Mia Tiwana Executive Summary In November 2020, Portland…
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Lift the Cap on Oregon Charter Schools
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Next week is National Charter Schools Week. Oregon passed…
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Poll: 72% Believe Parents Should Have School Choice
By Kathryn Hickok The last two years have made it clear: Oregon parents…
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Testimony of Kathryn Hickok before the Senate Committee on Education
February 24, 2022 Senate Committee on EducationOregon State Legislature Re: Support for SB…
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Oregon Should Expand Education Choices to Help All Students Succeed
By Kathryn Hickok Oregon students are now half-way through their third school year…
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National School Choice Week Celebrates Options and Opportunities in K-12 Education
By Kathryn Hickok January 23-29 is National School Choice Week, a 50-state celebration…
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Remove Oregon’s Age Restriction on GED Tests
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. COVID-19 disrupted—and may continue to disrupt—in-person learning at many…
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Oregon’s Century-Old Lesson in Public Education
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Earlier this week, the Michigan Democratic Party’s Facebook account…
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Let’s Hope for Something New This New Year
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. As 2021 is wrapping up, it turns out that…
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Public School Closures Are Hurting Oregon Students
By Rachel Dawson The public school shutdowns have gone too far. Once reserved…
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How COVID-19 Turned 2021 into “The Year of School Choice”
By Kathryn Hickok This fall, Oregon children began their third school year since…
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Oregon’s New Graduation Standards Turn Diplomas into Participation Trophies
By Micah Perry In this summer’s Olympic Games, Oregon natives Kim Hill and…
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Oregon Senate Passes Largest School Budget in State History
State spending per student in public school is $2,000 more than average private…
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Are Oregon students looking at distance learning in the fall?
By Helen Doran The president of the National Education Association recently said she…
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Every Student Deserves Access to a Quality Education
By Helen Doran Every student deserves access to a quality education. Despite the…
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Make Oregon the Opportunity State
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Oregonians blame Californians for many of our state’s woes….
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Oregon Should Increase Parents’ Education Options to Help Every Child Succeed
By Kathryn Hickok January 24-30 is National School Choice Week, the world’s largest…
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Compensate Families for Schooling During the Shutdown
Repurpose money from the Student Success Act to offset the cost to families…
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What is Going On? Cases Rise and Oregon Schools Open
By Helen Doran “What is going on?” That’s what many Oregon parents are…
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Poll Shows Support for Parents to Use State Education Funding for School Choice
By Kathryn Hickok A RealClear Opinion poll released at the end of September…
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I was homeschooled. Here is why I support school choice.
By Helen Doran Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents now find themselves…
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Achieving Equity: Oregon Students Deserve a Money-Back Guarantee
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. On September 21, 2020, Oregon’s Senate heard policy proposals…
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Emancipate the Students
By John A. Charles, Jr. The state legislature is seeking policy proposals for…
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Oregon Students Deserve Stability
By Helen Doran Oregon guidelines for the 2020 fall semester have been remarkably…
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COVID-19 is limiting classroom access; it’s time to stop limiting Oregon’s online charter school enrollment
By Cooper Conway The Oregon Education Association (OEA) recently penned a letter to legislators urging…
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Coronavirus Shouldn’t Stop Learning
By Cooper Conway On March 16, Governor Kate Brown directed Oregon schools to…
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Supporting Students, Not Systems, Is Social Justice
By Cooper Conway George Floyd’s tragic death has led to growing calls for…
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To Meet Kids’ Urgent Education Needs, Oregon Should Give Parents a “Money-Back Guarantee” Through School Choice
By Kathryn Hickok School choice has been increasing in popularity with parents for…
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Flexibility and Students’ Needs Should Drive Education Options in 2020
By Kathryn Hickok Oregon’s experience with COVID-19 will change the ways students in…
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Online charter school students were learning at home just fine, so why have their schools been taken away from them?
By Kathryn Hickok If Oregon charter school students can stay at home and…
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Miss Virginia: A Trailblazer for Educational Opportunity for Today’s Kids
By Kathryn Hickok and Miranda Bonifield Virginia Walden Ford is a Washington, D.C….
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Espinoza and Equal Opportunity in Education
By Miranda Bonifield In 1926, an Oregon school controversy made it all the…
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Miss Virginia
By Miranda Bonifield Virginia Walden Ford is a mom whose extraordinary sacrifice and…
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What’s at the Root of Oregon’s Rock-Bottom Graduation Rate?
By Kathryn Hickok Last week the National Foundation for Education Statistics released the…
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Education Savings Accounts: Fiscal Analysis of a Proposed Universal ESA in Oregon
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. Executive Summary Education Savings Accounts deposit a percentage of…
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Options in Education Fest Celebrates Oregon Parents’ Education Choices
By Bobbie Jager As a mother of 13 children (no, that’s not a…
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More Spending Won’t Solve Educational Woes
By Miranda Bonifield Increasing funding to Oregon’s school system may seem like an…
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Lessons in Education from Gandalf the Grey
By Miranda Bonifield Cascade Policy Institute has supported parental choice in K-12 education…
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School Choice Improves Student Mental Health
By Miranda Bonifield If you’ve done your homework on school choice, you know…
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Survey Shows Florida Scholarship Parents Are Overwhelmingly Satisfied with Their Children’s Schools
By Kathryn Hickok Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program currently helps more than a…
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The Smartest Choice Is School Choice
By Miranda Bonifield What do 29 states and nations from Australia to the…
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Stop Waiting for Superman—Be a Voice for Choice Instead
By Miranda Bonifield Are we waiting for Superman? In 2010, a documentary by…
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Underestimating Public School Spending
By Steve Buckstein A 2017 national poll on education issues found, among other…
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Charters Schools Are a Laboratory for Innovation Within Public Education
By Kathryn Hickok This is National Charter Schools Week. Did you know almost…
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What’s at the Root of Oregon’s Education Problems? (Steve Jobs Already Told Us the Answer)
By Steve Buckstein The Oregon legislature will embark on an “impossible mission” to…
Read Blog DetailEducation Savings Accounts: Review and Evaluation of a Universal ESA in Oregon
By Eric Fruits, Ph.D. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Education Savings Accounts deposit a percentage of…
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A Legal Analysis of Oregon’s Trust Obligations in Managing the Elliott State Forest
By Kathryn Walter (Altus Law LLC) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY When Oregon became a state…
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