On June 11, 1963, Alabama Gov. George Wallace stood at the auditorium door to block African-American students Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood from enrolling in the University of Alabama. Today, the forces keeping students from receiving a quality education are less stark, but they are just as real and just as damaging. Today's battle is not to force universities...
The American Jewish community has a proud tradition of fighting for equality, education and social justice, so it's no surprise that supporters of taxpayer-funded vouchers want to portray Senate Bill 1 as the "civil rights battle of our generation." They know how to appeal to us. But SB 1 is flawed legislation that, history shows, will not raise achievement and...
In theory, school choice ought to offer a way out of our educational woes. Knowledgeable parents and children trapped in a failing educational system would use tax dollars to choose among excellent options. Bad teachers in inadequate classrooms should conveniently fade away as free-market competition allows successful programs to bubble to the top. Poor children then would have the same...
We both graduated from excellent public schools and today live in suburban communities with outstanding public school systems. Our children -- six between us -- all attend private Jewish day schools. We have made that choice based on our families' personal commitments and values. While the school choice that we have made for our families involves sacrifice, we are blessed...
Five years ago, Ayelet Waldman dared to write an article in The New York Times saying that she loved her husband (the writer Michael Chabon) more than her children. For this, she was labeled a "bad mother," received rafts of hate mail and even death threats. The response was so vociferous and voluminous that she wrote a book about her...
Sivan 10, 5773
