School choice is about more than simply improving test scores; it also is about giving families opportunities to find the school that best meets their child’s needs.

Randy Georges Sr. moved to the U.S. to obtain a good education; now, he may have to move across town so his kids can have the same opportunity. This is a sad state, especially when alternatives, such as giving families private school options, exist.

The state’s foundation formula for K-12 education is currently underfunded. Some are calling for more spending, but freedom, not money, is the answer to our problem.

Proposition B might have brought some much-needed funding for education, but voters turned down the measure. The “no” vote may actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise if legislators act on the need to address school funding issues.

The state board of education voted to grant provisional accreditation to the Saint Louis Public School District, which is the correct decision, but this distinction will mean very little to schools or students.

Strong teachers’ unions in large public school districts with multiple failing schools will do everything possible to maintain their jobs and benefits. If it is to happen, major reform must come from outside the existing system — through increased competition and choice.

Despite a final judgment in the school transfer case, the issue remains unresolved and neither taxpayers nor students will benefit.

School choice programs allow families to go shopping for schools, not just for school supplies.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman’s theory that individual liberty leads to better educational options is just now starting to be realized.

Missouri Senate Bill 576, while not perfect and falling short of ensuring high-quality educational options for all students, still is a small victory for school choice in the state.

School choice by mortgage is the current system in Missouri and has been for decades.

The Missouri Legislature is considering legislation that would reform the state’s teacher tenure laws. Teacher tenure would be eliminated in favor of a performance-based evaluation system.

The Missouri Legislature needs to act now and allow students in the unaccredited Saint Louis and Kansas City public school districts to attend alternative schools that have a proven track record of providing a good education.

The Missouri Supreme Court has recently engaged in substantial judicial activism in its effort to circumvent the legislature and solidify collective bargaining rights for public school teachers.

Educators in Missouri often under-appreciate the fundamental importance of capitalism, entrepreneurism, and free markets to social cooperation, order, and the pursuit of happiness.

A national “common content core curriculum” for all public schools in the United States has an obvious appeal: Simply select what students should learn and tell the schools to teach it. Instead of more federal micromanagement, though, we need more autonomy for schools to innovate and serve the individual needs and interests of their students.

Parents with the means often choose their homes based in part on the quality of the school district they are located within, or decide among a number of private and parochial schools. On the other hand, our educational system routinely fails poor and minority students — those least able to choose a different school by moving to another district.

A new study examining superintendent compensation in Missouri finds that salary figures leave out significant forms of benefits, such as insurance, car allowances, and annuities. Compensation is also not correlated with performance metrics or to academic gains by district students. Greater transparency and accountability may lead to better results. 

The values of Missouri's higher education system are under siege. Both the legislature and the governor are advancing proposals that will undermine support for students who choose to attend private universities. The governor's proposal would leave students attending private higher education institutions ineligible for the needs-based Access Missouri grant, the merit-based Bright Flight scholarship, and the Marguerite Ross Barnett Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded to part-time students. In 2009, private school students received $52 million from these sources, totaling about 48 percent of the $108 million that Missouri awarded in scholarships.

Higher education funding has never been very transparent, so the amount of government funding that students receive is often arbitrary. By doing away with guaranteed funding and keeping reporting state contributions as a line item in tuition bills, universities would have a greater incentive to strive to reach performance benchmarks.