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Over the last few months the Forum has been heavily focused on education issues like Read to Succeed and pushing back on Common Core’s federal overreach. But we’ve still been keeping an eye on what may be the biggest threat to state autonomy: Medicaid expansion. As we shared in our Fast Fact sheet Top 10 Reasons Medicaid Expansion is Bad Medicine for South Carolina is Bad Medicine for South Carolina, expanding Medicaid to able-bodied adults would overwhelm an already broken program, harming the very people it was created to serve: poor children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

50 years of growing federal involvement in education has not led to better outcomes for students. A recent Daily Signal article lays out the disturbing trend: “According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress long-term-trend assessment, 17-year-old students today perform no better in reading and math than 17-year-olds did in the 1970s. According to the main NAEP assessment, often referred to as the nation’s “report card,” only 26 percent of 12th graders are proficient in math; just 38 percent of high school seniors are proficient in reading.”

The ability to read is a primary gateway to success in school and life-long learning. A child who does not master this fundamental skill faces daunting odds. Consider these sobering statistics from the Annie E. Casey Foundation: Children who are not reading proficiently in 3rd grade are 4 times more likely to not graduate high school. Below basic readers are almost 6 times more likely than proficient readers to not finish high school on time. Poor, Black, and Hispanic students who are struggling readers are about 8 times more likely than proficient readers to drop out of high school.

Common Core is just the first step down a long road of government control and intervention. Though Common Core promises to be a one size fits all fix for America's education system, in reality it is a bureaucratic nightmare that would only further undermine American education.

This OpEd  appeared in The Greenville News on February 2, 2014. Liberal Democrat Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and conservative Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton. What agenda could possibly unite these political odd couples? Support for the rapidly expanding world of education options. Each of these leaders is part of a bipartisan

“Not my son,” Marilyn calmly whispered as she listened to the local news regarding the deterioration of the neighborhood public schools. Though outwardly silent, she made a thunderous inner vow. Her son would acquire an education and break the cycle of housing projects, violence, broken homes, and hopelessness. It would end here.

Yesterday was an exciting day as Palmetto Policy joined with partners from around the state to launch our new education options resource catalogue for SC parents!Empowering Students celebrates all forms of education choice in SC —charter, virtual, private and homeschool— and highlight real Palmetto State families that are happily using each of these options. We also provide an easy “one-stop-shop” of resource links for parents to learn more about each of these choices that we hope will be a help for families as they seek to make the best decision for their student! But we need your help. Please take a minute to enjoy these inspiring stories, and most importantly, help us SHARE it via email and social media with your friends and family.Empowering Students will only be as effective as the number of South Carolina parents who read it!

PPF was honored to have an opportunity to bring Dr. Matt Ladner to testify at a recent South Carolina Senate hearing on the scholarship program. Below is his testimony: