Districts' Financial Crisis Is Not the Time to Talk Reform
It seems that every day for the past few months there has been an article reporting that some school district faces widespread teacher layoffs this fall. The recession has sapped local and state funds, and the districts have no choice.
U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, have responded by proposing that the federal government spend an additional $23 billion largely to save teachers from wholesale firings. The Obama administration has endorsed the idea.
In an essay last month, the Hoover Institution’s Eric A. Hanushek objected. His argument was simple. In every crisis, one should find opportunity. The opportunity he has found from this crisis is precisely the disaster Miller and Harkin want to avoid. Hanushek wants to eliminate what he considers the excessive number of teachers hired over the...
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