By Kerry McDonald The coronavirus response over the past two years has transformed education, putting parents back in the driver’s seat and inspiring education entrepreneurs to create new K-12 learning models. There are signs that entrepreneurship flourished during the pandemic response, as employment disruptions prompted individuals to launch new businesses. A new … [Read more...] about Teacher and Mom of Four Launches Mask-Free Learning Center in Response to Parent Demand
Kerry McDonald
This Microschool Network Is Booming as Families Flee Government-Run Schools
By Kerry McDonald When Jessica Gregory and her husband moved from the Washington, D.C. area in 2020 to a suburban community north of Boston, they expected to find a school for their children that was similar in quality to the one they left behind. They were disappointed to discover that classroom and behavioral management consumed much of the school day, and a rigid … [Read more...] about This Microschool Network Is Booming as Families Flee Government-Run Schools
Burned Out Teachers Are Launching Their Own Schools Instead of Abandoning Their Passion—and Succeeding
By Kerry McDonald Teachers across the country are feeling burned out and depleted, particularly as school coronavirus policies and staffing shortages make their jobs more difficult. According to a survey by the RAND Corporation, almost one-quarter of teachers planned to leave the profession in 2021, and teachers experienced higher rates of work-related stress and depression … [Read more...] about Burned Out Teachers Are Launching Their Own Schools Instead of Abandoning Their Passion—and Succeeding
New University Provides An Alternative to “Woke” Higher Ed
By Kerry McDonald This article is excerpted from LiberatED, a weekly email newsletter where FEE Senior Education Fellow Kerry McDonald brings you news and analysis on current education and parenting topics. Click here to sign up. “I criticize by creation, not by finding fault,” said the Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. This is such an important message. There … [Read more...] about New University Provides An Alternative to “Woke” Higher Ed
Cities Lead the Way in (Another) Massive Fall Exodus from US Public Schools
By Kerry McDonald Many parents pulled their children out of school last year for homeschooling and other private options, as schools remained shuttered due to the coronavirus response. Nationwide, homeschooling numbers tripled last year from their pre-pandemic levels, driven largely by black families who left district schools for homeschooling at the highest rate of any … [Read more...] about Cities Lead the Way in (Another) Massive Fall Exodus from US Public Schools
You Don’t Have to Send Your Kid Back to Public School This Fall—Here Are Your Options
By Kerry McDonald This year’s back-to-school season is as uncertain and unsettling as the last. With schools in some parts of the country set to open early next month, the CDC just announced its virus control recommendations which include required masking for unvaccinated students and staff, continued social distancing, and frequent virus testing. These guidelines were … [Read more...] about You Don’t Have to Send Your Kid Back to Public School This Fall—Here Are Your Options
How Cities Are Pushing Small Daycares Out of Business
By Kerry McDonald As the government steadily assumes responsibility for services previously provided by the private sector, small businesses shutter. It is hard for enterprising individuals to compete with widespread, “free” (i.e., taxpayer-funded) government offerings. The latest example of this is in Chicago, where the city’s universal public pre-K program is destroying … [Read more...] about How Cities Are Pushing Small Daycares Out of Business
4 Signs Parents Won’t Be Sending Their Kids Back to Public School This Fall
By Kerry McDonald As disruptive as the 2020/2021 academic year was, it led to many positive educational changes that will be transformative and long-lasting. Most notably, parents have been re-empowered to take back the reins of their children’s education from government bureaucrats and teachers unions. Frustrated by school closures and district “Zoom schooling,” families … [Read more...] about 4 Signs Parents Won’t Be Sending Their Kids Back to Public School This Fall
Two Grown-Up Homeschoolers Explain How Alternative Education Helped Them Get Ahead
By Kerry McDonald With more parents than ever before choosing or considering the homeschooling option, it can be helpful to hear how homeschoolers turn out. According to the US Census Bureau, homeschooling has tripled this academic year from its pre-pandemic levels, with more than 11 percent of current K-12 students currently learning this way. Research reveals … [Read more...] about Two Grown-Up Homeschoolers Explain How Alternative Education Helped Them Get Ahead
Public Kindergarten Enrollment is Plummeting — Here’s Why That’s a Good Thing
By Kerry McDonald Public school enrollment has consistently declined across most states this academic year, and there are new signs that the trend will continue this fall. On Thursday, New York City’s education department reported that kindergarten applications for the 2021/2022 school year dropped 12 percent, from 63,000 to under 55,500 applications. Overall New York … [Read more...] about Public Kindergarten Enrollment is Plummeting — Here’s Why That’s a Good Thing
Homeschooling More Than Doubles During the Pandemic
By Kerry McDonald Many families took one look at their school district’s remote or hybrid learning offerings this fall and said “no, thank you.” That’s the message gleaned from national and state-specific data on the surging number of homeschooled students this academic year. Prior to the pandemic and related school closures last spring, there were just under two million … [Read more...] about Homeschooling More Than Doubles During the Pandemic
Absurd Thanksgiving Guidelines Reveal an Astonishing Level of Government Overreach
By Kerry McDonald The global swelling of government power and the associated decline in individual liberty as a response to the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented in modern times. New lockdown orders and continued restrictions on mobility and commerce inflict severe human and economic costs, with depression rates soaring and more than 150 million people thrust into … [Read more...] about Absurd Thanksgiving Guidelines Reveal an Astonishing Level of Government Overreach