NHEG EDGUIDE May - June 2024

ISSUE 5-6 

“Summer means 

happy times and good 

sunshine.” 

- Brian Wilson 

2024 

MAY - JUNE

NHEG EDGUIDE 

EDITOR IN CHIEF 

PRODUCTION MANAGER 

PHOTOGRAPHERS IN 

THIS ISSUE 

EDITORIAL TEAM 

PROOFREADERS/EDITORS 

Pamela Clark 

NewHeightsEducation@yahoo.com 

Marina Klimi 

MarinaKlimi@NewHeightsEducation.org 

Laura Casanova 


PAMELA CLARK 

FRANI WYNER 

LARISSA MURRAY 

Contents 

2 

EDITORIAL TEAM 

4 

THOUGHT OF THE MONTH 

18-37 

NHEG PITCH DECK 

68-69 

MISSING CHILDREN 

90-95 

NHEG INTERNET RADIO 

PROGRAM 

98-101 

104- 

108-109 

EARN BOX TOPS 

110-113 

38-49 114-115 

NHEG MEDIA PACK 

52-67 

NHEG COURSE 

NHEG BOOK 

PROMOTIONS 

NHEG BIRTHDAYS AND 

ANNIVERSARIES 

PRESS RELEASE 

NHEG STUDENTS ARTICLES 

120-156 

FEE ARTICLES 

157 

HSLDA ARTICLES 

158-163 

RECIPES 

164-165 

NHEG PARTNERS & 

AFFILIATES

May June 2024 

NHEG EDGUIDE May - June 2024 

Thought for the Month 

Welcome to the official 

New Heights Educational Group store. 

Wishing everyone a happy and joyful 

summer, with warm memories made 

with our children 

and students of all ages. 

https://NHEG.memberhub.com/store 

NHEG Store | New Heights Educational Group, Inc. 

Pamela Clark 

Founder/ Executive Director of 

The New Heights Educational 

Group, Inc. 

Resource and Literacy Center 

Info@NewHeightsEducation.org 

http://www.NewHeightsEducation.org 

Learning Annex 

https://School.NewHeightsEducation.org/ 

A Public Charity 501(c)(3) 

Nonprofit Organization 

New Heights Educational Group 

Inc. 


11809 US Route 127 

Sherwood, Ohio 43556 

+1.419.786.0247 

4 

5


May - June 2024 

P R O M O T E S L I T E R A C Y F O R C H 

I L D R E N A N D A D U L T S 


Learning Annex https://School.NewHeightsEducation.org/ 

A Public Charity 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization 

419-786-0247 


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HEADLINE: Uplifting Memoir UNPREDICTABLE Chronicles Abuse Recovery, Courage Through Faith 

SUBHEAD: Palmetto Publishing unveils stellar, inspirational autobiography on overcoming 

lifelong trauma 

CHARLESTON, SC, November 9, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – 

Honey Kasper is an overcomer. After beating cancer, surviving eighty-nine surgeries, and 

processing a childhood filled with every kind of abuse, she has built a successful and deeply 

fulfilling life. Her true story is recounted in her memoir, Unpredictable: The walk in and out of 

darkness, a brand new title launched this fall by Palmetto Publishing. Kasper’s website contains 

additional information. 

The book was written to reach those who have faced chronic illness, other serious health 

conditions, domestic violence, and childhood trauma. Kasper believes sharing her story candidly 

will help readers experience a sense of camaraderie in their journeys. More than anything, she 

believes she was able to heal as a result of her faith. Kasper describes her story as “the hand of God 

steering my life away from tragedy,” and she adds that “overcoming with grace and faith in God 

can change a life.” 

The book itself is deeply emotional, showing how trauma can affect a person’s mindset for a 

lifetime— but also demonstrating how perseverance and taking back control of one’s choices can 

help survivors to recover. The title also features a collection of poems and a list of song titles that 

the author has found inspirational. 

Reviewers have called the book “an insightful, honest, and inspirational tale of a battle survivor,” 

and a story that “gives hope to readers . . . from dysfunctional families.” Kasper, who writes under 

a pseudonym, invites readers to embark on the incredible journey of healing, and to “build a life of 

purpose and love.” Kasper can be found on Twitter (@KasperHoney) Facebook and LinkedIn for 

readers who wish to stay connected. 

UNPREDICTABLE: THE WALK IN AND OUT OF DARKNESS is available for purchase 

online at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com. 

About the Author: 

Honey Kasper is an overcomer whose life shows how grace and faith in God can transform a 

life. Having survived many years of abuse, trauma, severe malnutrition, over eighty-nine 

surgeries, and cancer, Kasper writes to help people find freedom from their struggles. 

About the Book: 

Title: Unpredictable: The walk in and out of 

darkness 

Author: Honey Kasper 

Publisher: Palmetto Publishing 

Publication date: November 2023 

ISBN-13: 979-8-8229-3211-1 

Media Contact: 

Honey Kasper 

Email: unpredictablethewalk@yahoo.com 

Available for interviews: Author, 

Honey Kasper 

Related Images


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View, & Share 

Scan, 

Sighting CALL 

Report 

or 1--800--THE-- 

911 

LOST 

View, & Shaare 

Scaan, 

Sighting CALL 

Report 

or 1--800--THE-- 

911 

LOST 

Sighting CALL 

Report 

or 1-800-THE- 

911 

Sighting CALL 

Report 

or 1-800-THE- 

911 


CHILD 

MISSING 

Lynn Slone 

Raniya 

CHILD 

MISSING 

Dowers Siciliano 

Anthony 

How you can help 


NCIC# M197898635 

NCIC# M707704361 

Missing Since: Aprril 22, 2024 

Missing Since: Marrch 25, 2024 

Columbus, OH 

Cincinnati, OH 

Scan, View, & Share 

Age Now: 12 Yearrs Old 


Female 

Male 

LOST 

Columbus Police 

Deparrtment (Ohio) 1- 

Cincinnati Police 

614-645-4545 

EXTRA PHOTOS 


513-765-1212 

Raniya was last seen on Aprril 22, 2024. 

Both photos shown arre of Anthony. 

NCMEC: 2019149 

NCMEC: 2017540 

CHILD 

MISSING 

Robinson 

Jaamaal 

How you caan help 

CHILD 

MISSING 

Rathburn 

Shyann 


NCIC# M147825663 

NCIC# M217815034 

Missing Since: Marrch 20, 2024 

Missing Since: Aprril 4, 2024 

Columbus, OH 

Columbus, OH 


Scan, View, & Share 


Male 

LOST 

Female 




614-645-4545 

EXTRA PHOTOS 


614-645-4545 

Both photos shown arre of Shyann. 

Jamal was last seen on Marrch 20, 2024. 

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NCMEC: 2016511 

NCMEC: 2018019


JULY 21-30, 2023 

SEPTEMBER 9-17, 2023 

NOVEMBER 4-19, 2023 

FEBRUARY 9-18, 2024 

SIX DEGREES 

OF SEPARATION 

MARCH 15-24, 2024 

MAY 4-19, 2024


Have professional 

genealogy research 

done for only 

$ 

65 

per hr 

Genealogy costs cover the genealogist’s time 

and there may be extra charges for expenses 

that include photocopies, travel, website fees 

(Ancestry, MyHeritage, and public library fees) 

and postage if necessary. 

For more information, please visit https://School.NewHeightsEducation.org/affordable-genealogy/ 

To sign up: https://NHEG.MemberHub.com/store/items/838457 

New Heights Educational Group is now offering pre-recorded 

Genealogy and DNA courses 

https://www.readandspell.com/home-course 

Discount: NHE10 

Genealogy & Education 

In this free course, students will explore the history of genealogy 

and be inspired to learn about their family history 

and its connection to their community. 

Course topics: 

• History of genealogy 

• Family history and its ties to their environment 

• Significance of learning about family history 

• Steps to researching family history 

• Sites to help organize a family tree 

• Steps to downloading and moving a family tree 

DNA & Education 

In this free course, students will explore the world of genetics 

and DNA testing and be inspired to learn about their 

genetic makeup and their connection to others. 

Course topics: 

• Significance of learning about family history 

• Introduction to genetic testing 

• Overview of DNA 

• DNA testing options 

• Steps to take after DNA testing 

• Value of adding DNA results to other websites 

• Using Gedmatch 

• Comparing DNA in multiple systems 

• Comparing DNA relatives 

• DNA results and social media 

For more information, please visit https://School.NewHeightEducation.org/online-courses/genealogy-dna-course/ 

Contact Us 

419-786-0247 

NewHeightsEducation@yahoo.com • http://www.NewHeightsEducation.org



https://NewHeightsEducation.org/NHEG-news/heroes-of-liberty-partnership/ 

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https://www.collegexpress.com/reg/signup?campaign=10k&utm_campaign=NHEG&utm_ 

medium=link&utm_source=NHEG 

More Scholarship opportunities: 

-https://School.NewHeightsEducation.org/students/scholarship-opportunities/scholarship-search/ 

- https://School.NewHeightsEducation.org/students/scholarship-opportunities/ 

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https://NHEG.memberhub.gives/NHEG/Campaign/Details

https://NHEG.memberhub.gives/NHEG/Campaign/Details 

https://careasy.org/nonprofit/NewHeightsEducationalGroup 

Call: 

855-550-4483



https://School.NewHeightsEducation.org/online-courses/personal-development-coaching-courses/ 

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https://www.nshss.org/ 

https://School.NewHeightsEducation.org/ 

membership/national-csi-classes/ 

https://School.NewHeightsEducation.org/online-courses/discounted-and-free-online-classes/ 

https://NewHeightsEducation. 

org/NHEG-educational-programs/virtual-reading-program/ 

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VOLUNTEER PAGES 

NEW VOLUNTEERS 

VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTH 

MARANDA BROWN 1/30/24 

MANYA SHUKLA - VOLUNTEER 

COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY, HR 

HR COORDINATOR (3/6/2024) 

Mythreyi Ashoka 

Marina Klimi 

Manya Shukla 

COORDINATOR, SOCIAL MEDIA AND 

Maranda Brown 

Charles Lanier 

Sheila Wright 

RADIO SHOW ASSISTANT 

HABIBA SULEIMAN APRIL 24, 2024 


Rachel Mathurin 

Frani Wyner 

RADIO HOST ASSISTANT 

Jeremy Darby 

Logan Moreland 

JEREMY DARBY 2/7/24 

Ginnefine Jalloh 

Heather Ruggiero 

COMIC ILLUSTRATOR 

New Board Member 1/9/24 - for magazine 


Board Member, NHEG Instructor, Researcher, 

Assistant Virtual Development Director of Education Department (AVDD) 

Edmond, OK 73013 

HeatherR@NewHeightsEducation.org 

Heather Ruggiero - New Board Member, but not new to NHEG 

Heather has been with NHEG since January 9, 2017, as a financial literacy instructor 

and a co-instructor for the Natural Speller. 

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THE INTERNET RADIO PROGRAM 

FROM NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP


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103


NHEG May Birthday 

MAY 13 

Peter Gordon 

NHEG June Birthday 

JUN 13 

Rachel Fay 

MAY 17 

Logan Moreland 

JUN 18 

Ramyasree Arva 

MAY 24 

Jarrett Sharpe 

JUN 18 

Maranda Brown 

MAY 24 

Jyoti Dave 

JUN 20 

Tammy Barham 

MAY 25 

Greta Gunnarson 

JUN 30 

Rhone-Ann Huang 

MAY 26 

Hamsatu Bolori 

MAY 24 

Jyoti Dave 

MAY 25 

Greta Gunnarson 

MAY 26 

Hamsatu Bolori 

MAY 28 

Laksmi Padmanabhan 

MAY 29 

Emersyn Sharpe 

MAY 30 

Georgia Woodbines 

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NHEG May Anniversaries 

NHEG June Anniversaries 

MAY 21 Sarika Gauba 

JUN 1 

2024 NHEG 

MAY 25 

Rhone-Ann Huang 

JUN 21 

Kristen Congedo 

MAY 28 

Katie Bucchop 

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HOW TO EARN 

BOX TOPS MAKES IT EASY 

All you need is your phone! Download the Box Tops app, shop as you normally 

would, then use the app to scan your store receipt within 14 days of purchase. The 

app will identify Box Tops products on your receipt and 

automatically credit your school’s earnings online. 

Twice a year, your school will receive a check and can use that cash to buy 

whatever it needs! 

DO YOU NEED TO ENROLL YOUR SCHOOL? FIND OUT HOW HERE. 

https://www.boxtops4education.com/enroll 

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PRESS RELEASE 

NEW WORLD REPORT UNVEILS THE 2023 WINNERS OF THE 

NEW PARTNERSHIP 

FIRST BOOK 

About First Book is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that exclusively supports educators and program leaders serving 

children in need. Books, resources, or any goods obtained via the fbmarketplace.org website are strictly prohibited 

from being resold for any reason. Any breach of this policy may lead to legal consequences including 

(but not limited to) exclusion from our network. Please refer to First Book’s eligibility requirements for more 

information. First Book cannot guarantee cancellations or adjustments to orders once they have been transferred 

to our warehouse for processing. In order to continue our mission, the First Book Marketplace cannot 

accept returns and all sales are final (including orders for digital products). 

Parents can subscribe via www.NewHeightsEducation.org to receive access to First Book. 

More to come soon. 

United States, 2023 – New World Report is proud to reveal the winners of this year’s North America Business 

Awards. 

2023 has seen an immense number of businesses and individuals from North America bring forth innovative 

ideas and carefully crafted solutions which, ultimately, impact the rest of the world. 

The entities we showcase in this programme have come a long way since their inception – always adapting, 

evolving, and staying one step ahead of the curve so that their clients and customers can reap the benefits. 

Having such a brilliant influence on their industries, they’re setting the bar high and altering our perception 

of acquisitions, private investments, insurance comparisons, independent PR and communications, and so 

much more. 

We’re here to explore what our winner’s moves truly mean to their clients, as they continue to offer superior 

services, support, and sustainable steps towards a better future in business – and beyond. 

Awards Coordinator Jessie Wilson commented on the success of this year’s winners: “The businesses we 

recognise in our awards programmes continue to amaze us. With such a varied group of firms, agencies, and 

platforms to explore in this issue, we find ourselves motivated by star-studded success and a dedication to 

excellence. 

I wish our winners the very best for 2024 ahead as they surpass all expectations and keep their industries at 

the very cutting edge of developments. Congratulations again!” 

To learn more about our award winners and to gain insight into the working practices of the “best of the 

best,” please visit the New World Report website (https://www.thenewworldreport.com/awards/north-america-business-awards/) 

where you can access the winners supplement. 

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PRESS RELEASE 

NEW WORLD REPORT UNVEILS THE 2023 WINNERS OF THE 

NEW WORLD REPORT 2023 

New Heights Educational Group (NHEG) has been named Best Educational Support Services Organisation 

2023 – OhioSpecial Needs Support Champions of the Year 2023 – USA by the New World Report. 

New World report stated, “proud to reveal the winners of this year’s North America Business Awards.” 




excellence. 


the very cutting edge of developments. Congratulations again! 

NHEG Founder/Director Pamela Clark said, “we are thankful for this recognition and nomination. Our volunteers 

work very hard to make the world a better place. Very thankful for each and everyone of them.” 

https://www.thenewworldreport.com/winners/New-Heights-Educational-Group/ 

United States, 2023 – New World Report is proud to reveal the winners of this year’s North America Business 

Awards. 

2023 has seen an immense number of businesses and individuals from North America bring forth innovative 

ideas and carefully crafted solutions which, ultimately, impact the rest of the world. 

The entities we showcase in this programme have come a long way since their inception – always adapting, 

evolving, and staying one step ahead of the curve so that their clients and customers can reap the benefits. 

Having such a brilliant influence on their industries, they’re setting the bar high and altering our perception 

of acquisitions, private investments, insurance comparisons, independent PR and communications, and so 

much more. 

We’re here to explore what our winner’s moves truly mean to their clients, as they continue to offer superior 

services, support, and sustainable steps towards a better future in business – and beyond. 




excellence. 


the very cutting edge of developments. Congratulations again!” 

To learn more about our award winners and to gain insight into the working practices of the “best of the 

best,” please visit the New World Report website (https://www.thenewworldreport.com/awards/north-america-business-awards/) 

where you can access the winners supplement. 

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NHEG STUDENTS ARTICLES 

EMPOWERING STUDENTS: A JOURNEY WITH 

NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP 

Written By: 


Board Member 

New Heights Educational Group, Inc. 

HeatherR@NewHeightsEducation.org 



UNLOCKING POTENTIAL, ONE STUDENT AT A TIME 

At NHEG, we believe that education is not just about textbooks and classrooms—it’s about igniting curiosity, 

fostering creativity, and empowering students to reach new heights. Our nonprofit organization is dedicated 

to promoting literacy for children and adults alike. 

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: SHARING VALUABLE RESOURCES 

Meet Reggie, an enthusiastic homeschool student. Reggie has a resource he took initiative to share that 

complements NHEG’s large directory of resources. It’s called “Beyond Books: Libraries as Language Learning 

Centers”—a well-written article that shares information about libraries as language learning hubs. 

“The article talks about how awesome libraries are for learning new languages. It says libraries are like treasure chests 

full of cool stuff that can help you learn a new language, like books, CDs, and even online apps. Libraries are quiet and 

peaceful, so you can focus on learning without any distractions. They’re also super inclusive, so you don’t have to worry 

about making mistakes while practicing. Plus, libraries have fun events and activities that teach you about different 

cultures too! Overall, the article shows that libraries are amazing places to learn languages and have fun while doing it! 

” -Reggie 

HOW YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE 


1. Spread the Word: Share your NHEG success stories with friends, family, and fellow students. Let’s create a ripple 

effect of educational empowerment! 

2. Volunteer: Join our global community of volunteers. Whether you’re in Ohio or halfway across the world, your time 

and expertise matter. Together, we can make a difference. 

3. Donate: Every contribution fuels our mission. Your support helps maintain services and our growing library. 

Consider donating today! 

4. Subscribe: Get our latest news and resources in your inbox. 

FIND MORE GREAT RESOURCES IN OUR LEARNING ANNEX! 

Welcome Students to the NHEG Learning Annex | Defiance Ohio (newheightseducation.org) 

https://school.newheightseducation.org/ 

JOIN THE MOVEMENT 

Let’s celebrate student participation and amplify the impact of NHEG. Together, we’re building a brighter 

future—one student, one resource at a time. 

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NEUROEDUCATION IN SCHOOL: PRINCIPLES OF NEUROSCIENCE 

Neuroeducation implies understanding how a child’s brain works and how the nervous system affects their learning. 

Neuroscience studies applied to schooling have been essential both for teachers to innovate in pedagogical strategies 

and for parents to create more favorable conditions for their children’s learning. 

This article presents eight principles of neuroscience in action to help children learn in the classroom. As a strategy 

for writing the article, I will use a study conducted by the Social Service of Industry (SESI) of Brazil, which is 

now part of the National 

Network of Science for Education (Rede CPE), an association that integrates Brazilian researchers and laboratories 

from different areas that develop research to improve educational practices and policies. 

The following principles also contribute to the transformations of education over 

time: 

1. Learning changes the brain: Neuroimaging tests have found that our brain changes both in structure and in 

functioning as a person learns new skills such as reading, writing, counting, practicing a new language, etc. This 

is due to neuroplasticity and the brain’s ability to reorganize itself and form new brain synapses with each new 

learning or experience acquired throughout life. For this 

reason, students need to know that intelligence is malleable and that it is always time to learn, regardless of the 

difficulty they have with a given content. Research in the field of neuroscience reveals that when students understand 

that their intelligence is malleable and that learning changes the structure of their 

brain, they can renew their self-confidence and motivation to study. 

2. How we learn is unique: Although each of us has the same set of neural circuit 

(linked to attention, motivation, motricity, language, reasoning, etc.), how each person’s brain connects to these 

circuits is different, as it depends on the set of experiences inherent to how each person learns and experiences 

learning. Each student has a different type of neural circuitry that influences their performance and learning. 

Thus, a classroom with students of the same age does not necessarily mean that everyone will learn in the same 

way. For this reason, it is necessary to awaken everyone’s interest, investigating their previous knowledge, what 

they like to do most, their desires, and their curiosities. Diversifying pedagogical practices, as well as teaching 

resources, are alternatives for each student to put into practice their way of learning. 

As the teacher manages to connect with the students, the easier it will be to connect the interests of the class to 

the concepts of the school curriculum. 

3. Social interaction is conducive to learning: We are social beings. Learning by observing others is not as effective 

as learning by interacting with others. In a classroom, the exchange between teacher and student generates 

changes in each person’s cognitive processing, and this is evident when the teacher needs to modify the lesson 

plan because of a doubt presented by a student. Learning occurs all the time, whether between students or 

groups of teachers. This way, a new neural construct is developed in the brain for each new learning. The neural 

circuits activated by social interactions have connections with the reward system, which triggers motivation, 

essential for quality learning! 

4. The use of technology influences the processing and storage of information: 

The teacher, when using smartphones, laptops, and tablets, as a pedagogical tool, first needs to ask himself/herself 

“What are the benefits and drawbacks that information technologies offer to students in the classroom? 

116 

The indiscriminate use of these devices in the classroom can cause distractions and multitasking behaviors 

in students in a way that impairs their ability to focus and pay attention. For technology to be used to benefit 

learning, support and guidance are needed. It is necessary to guide the student on how to use selection 

strategies and identify inaccurate news when researching and seeking information, for example. Another 

important tip is to develop deep readings with students. 

Students need to use cognitive strategies that allow in-depth reading, not only in printed texts but also on 

screens. 

5. Emotion drives learning: In the human brain, reason and emotion are processes that work interdependently 

to allow our best adaptation to the environment. 

From a neuroscientific point of view, it is impossible to build memories, carry out complex thoughts, or 

make meaningful decisions without emotion. That is why they are so important for human development and 

learning. In the classroom, “what” the student feels and “how” he feels about what is being taught will directl 

impact his learning. Leading him, for example, to pay more attention (or not) to the content of the class, to 

ask (or not) questions, and to dedicate himself more (or less) to his studies. This is how emotion guide 

learning. On the other hand, emotions that trigger episodes of stress and anxiety in students impair learning. 

Working with emotions in the classroom, and incorporating socio-emotional learning into pedagogical 

practice, means considering students in all their dimensions. It is about understanding and valuing the way 

students perceive themselves, interact, and perceive learning. 

6. Motivation puts the brain in action for learning: Motivation is associated with the activity of brain areas 

that analyze the value of a given experience and also whether it is rewarding enough to be repeated and 

maintained over time. In learning, this process occurs when the student decides to dedicate more time to 

studying certain content. 

A tip to stimulate motivation in students is to arouse their curiosity through thought-provoking questions in 

the classroom. Remember that every research project starts with a question or a problem! 

Research indicates that when something truly awakens curiosity, brain regions associated with motivation 

and memory are activated. In other words, curiosity can be a great motivator that makes the brain want to 

learn. 

7. Attention is the gateway to learning: Attention is the gateway to learning. It is through this that the brain 

is able to filter the necessary and relevant information for our knowledge. Without focus and attention, we 

cannot filter the information necessary for learning, and consequently, we cannot learn. But the challenge 

of attention is to maintain concentration, and this involves emotion. For this reason, it is essential that the 

learning content has value and meaning for the student. 

This was proven through research in which, using electrophysiology techniques, they observed that when 

adolescents were presented with stimuli they considered more “interesting,” areas related to selective attention 

were influenced by brain areas related to motivation. Thus, the study demonstrated that more interesting 

stimuli increase attentional focus. 

8. The brain is not multitasking: Although the modern world values multitasking behavior in people, neuroscience 

has proven that the brain is not multitasking, alternating its attention on one stimulus at a time 

when performing a task. 

Simultaneous tasks require the brain to compromise the same brain area, the prefrontal cortex, responsible 

for working memory. Thus, carrying out multiple tasks when studying can compromise academic performance 

and the reading comprehension, for example. Other harmful factors include difficulty maintaining 

focus, mental fatigue, working memory overload, and difficulty retaining the content studied. 

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In order to make students understand the harm of multitasking behavior, it is necessary to explain to them that 

the greater the number of activities they are doing, the greater the level of distraction. In practice, this means 

avoiding using social media while studying and only using it again during the break between classes. cannot filter 

the information necessary for learning, and consequently, we cannot learn. But the challenge of attention is to 

maintain concentration, and this involves emotion. For this reason, it is essential that the learning content has 

value and meaning for the student. 

This was proven through research in which, using electrophysiology techniques, they observed that when adolescents 

were presented with stimuli they considered more “interesting,” areas related to selective attention were 

influenced by brain areas related to motivation. Thus, the study demonstrated 

that more interesting stimuli increase attentional focus. 

The educator’s work can be more effective when he/she understands how the brain learns, what motivates learning, 

and how it better captures attention—in short, how stimuli and social interactions impact the learner’s formation. 

The brain is the organ of learning, and neuroeducation aims to provide scientific evidence of how the brain 

learns more effectively in the classroom. Hence the importance of neuroeducation for 

the student’s academic life and for the teacher’s teaching process. 

Source: 

Serviço Social da Indústria. Departamento Nacional. 

Neuroscience and education: looking out for the future of learning / Serviço 

Social da Indústria, Ana Luiza Neiva Amaral, Leonor Bezerra Guerra; 

translation Mirela C. C. Ramacciotti. Brasília : SESI/DN, 2022. 

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Schooling as Signaling 

Despite a culture and economy now focused around technology and innovation, most conventional schooling is widely 

incapable of helping young people develop the knowledge and skills they need to do essential 21st-century work. 

Stuck in a 19th-century curriculum and instruction model, today’s schools are anything but modern. 

The trouble is that schooling is more about signaling than learning, so the catalysts to change its basic structure 

and approach are lacking. It might not matter in the real world that you mastered middle school French, but moving 

successfully along the schooling conveyor belt offers a signal to potential employers. Economist Bryan Caplan 

writes about this signaling effect in his book The Case Against Education. He also explains how the quest for more 

signals, regardless of how hollow they may be, is leading to “credential inflation,” or the pursuit of more diplomas for 

occupations that really don’t require them. 

Writing in The Atlantic, Caplan says: 

From kindergarten on, students spend thousands of hours studying subjects irrelevant to the modern labor market. Why do 

English classes focus on literature and poetry instead of business and technical writing? Why do advanced-math classes bother 

with proofs almost no student can follow? When will the typical student use history? Trigonometry? Art? Music? Physics? Latin? The 

class clown who snarks “What does this have to do with real life?” is onto something. 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020 

KERRY MCDONALD 

Elon Musk Wants Talent, Not Diplomas 

Elon Musk says skills matter more than diplomas. The 

founder and CEO of corporate innovation giants Tesla 

and SpaceX tweeted on February 2 that he is hiring for 

his artificial intelligence group at Tesla and wants to 

recruit the most talented people he can find. Talent, 

to Musk, means “deep understanding” of artificial 

intelligence and the ability to pass a “hardcore coding 

test,” but it doesn’t necessarily include degrees and 

diplomas. 

“A PhD is definitely not required,” Musk wrote. “Don’t 

care if you even graduated high school.” 

It’s not surprising that Musk would emphasize ability and knowledge over institutional 

credentials. 

Musk Didn’t Like School 

It’s not surprising that Musk would emphasize ability and 

knowledge over institutional credentials. Other Silicon 

Valley technology companies, like Google and Apple, 

no longer require employees to have a college degree. 

But Musk also had a personal dissatisfaction with his 

schooling, saying in a 2015 interview: “I hated going to 

school when I was a kid. It was torture.” 

A billionaire inventor, Musk decided to build a better 

educational program for his own children and opened his 

experimental school, Ad Astra, on SpaceX’s Los Angeles 

campus. He was dissatisfied with the elite private schools 

they were attending and thought education, even at 

purportedly “good” schools, could be much improved. 

More Signal Options Beyond Schooling 

Fortunately, there are now many other ways beyond conventional schooling to gain skills and knowledge and signal 

your value to potential employers like Musk. More than 400 “coding bootcamps” are reported to exist around the 

world, helping people to master in-demand programming and software development skills. The online coding 

school, Lambda School, which has raised nearly $50 million in venture capital funding since its launch in 2017, has a 

fascinating business model focused on income share agreements. It is free to attend Lambda, but the company takes 

a percentage of its graduates’ earnings once they land a high-tech job. If the student doesn’t land a job, she doesn’t 

pay. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is estimated that Lambda is receiving over 1,000 applications a week from interested 

students. Other alternatives to college are sprouting, and apprenticeship programs like Praxis continue to be soughtafter. 

Entrepreneurs like Musk recognize what it takes to succeed in the innovation era, and it has little to do with 

conventional schooling. Discovering passions, pursuing personal goals, and developing essential skills to build on 

those passions and achieve those goals has never been easier than it is today with abundant resources and tools 

literally at our fingertips. 

Musk and Tesla may be known for their visionary work in creating autonomous vehicles, but it’s autonomous humans 

with the agency, creativity, and opportunity to achieve their full potential that are the real breakthroughs. 

In an interview about Ad Astra, Musk said: “The regular 

schools weren’t doing the things that I thought should be 

done. So I thought, well, let’s see what we can do.” 

Ad Astra, which means “to the stars,” offers a hands-on, 

passion-driven learning environment that defies the 

coercion inherent in most conventional schooling, 

public or private. It has no grade levels, an emergent, 

technology-focused curriculum, and no mandatory 

classes. As Fortune reports, “There are no grades given 

to students at the school and if the children don’t like a 

particular class they’re taking, they can simply opt out.” 

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) 

https://fee.org/ 

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Indeed, just this past week, Zuckerberg, representing Meta, along with X’s Linda Yaccarino, Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel, 

and Discord’s Jason Citron, faced accusations for endangering children via their social media platforms. It is worth 

noting, however, that the average user age of those on Meta and Discord is between 25 and 34, and the average age of 

users for Snapchat falls between 18 and 34. 

Now, this is not to say these platforms do not pose any problems for children; truly, there are many concerns. But 

instituting greater government restrictions on internet users and social media sites is problematic on many levels, and 

below are a few quick reasons why. 

1) Social Media Synchronization 

What constitutes social media is evolving quickly and how one logs on can also vary widely. Given that consumers 

want frictionless transactions, companies are eager to comply. Platforms and apps now have single sign-on systems 

and syncing capabilities, and registering for new services is made easy when transferring data from an existing 

account. As such, parental consent will either be able to be easily bypassed or become an increasingly repetitive 

request (similar to cookie permission popups). 

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2024 

KIMBERLEE JOSEPHSON 

Why the Government Shouldn’t Regulate Youth Access to 

Social Media 

Parents and politicians have been expressing concerns 

over youth online safety since online life began. Now, 

proposals for mandatory age verification are being 

brought before state lawmakers and are gaining serious 

ground. For instance, Florida’s Republican-led House 

recently passed legislation that requires “many platforms 

to prohibit anyone younger than 16 from creating an 

account” and requires social media companies “to 

terminate accounts for users in the state under 16.” 

Florida’s law feels reminiscent of the Parental Advisory 

warnings passed in the 1980s and the video game bans of 

the 1990s. 

Such age-based restrictions ignore the fact that children 

develop at different speeds and that the purpose for 

online activities can vary greatly. 

Take, for example, Malal Yousafzai, who began blogging 

about the injustice in her country when she was only 11 

years old. Yousafzai narrowly survived a bullet to the 

head after being targeted by the Taliban for speaking out 

both online and offline about the suppression of children 

in Pakistan. In recognition of her fight for the right of all 

children to an education, Yousafzai became the youngest 

recipient in history, at the age of 17, to be awarded the 

Nobel Peace Prize. 

When it comes to online youth safety, parents, not politicians, should be making the call. 

Donaldson, aka MrBeast, began YouTubing at the age of 

13 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, MrBeast is one of 

the world’s most prolific and influential content creators 

with a staggering 235 million subscribers. Whether it is 

cleaning up the world’s oceans or providing support for 

children in need of medical care, MrBeast puts his money 

where his mouth is, to the tune of $100 million in 2023 

alone. 

Clearly, the internet is an empowering tool for some 

teens, and Florida’s bill seems stifling for the MrBeasts 

and Yousafzais of the world. 

It should also be pointed out that some of the most 

innovative companies we benefit from today were 

created by teens who tested the bounds of the 

internet early on and unencumbered. Steve Jobs met 

Steve Wozniak when he was only 14 and after much 

exploration and tinkering, Apple Computer Inc. came to 

be when Jobs was just 21. 

Mark Zuckerberg began toying around with computer 

programming at age 11 and went on to launch Facebook 

when he was 19. If only he knew how often in the future 

he would be grilled by Congress for all he accomplished 

and that one day he would be put on trial and blamed for 

the “online child sexual exploitation crisis.” 

2) Verification Means Data Collection 

If there is an age restriction for site access or if parental permission needs to be granted, then there must be a means 

of proving it. Therefore, sensitive data will be collected to confirm the identity of both children and their parents, and 

there is no guarantee that that information can be kept safe. According to the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 

Court, for the past several years, the FBI has knowingly abused American civil liberties by misusing data through the 

collection of personal communications. 

3) Permission May Be Problematic 

Critics of mandatory parental consent have argued that getting permission is sometimes easier said than done. We 

should not assume that every child has a stable household or supportive parents. Access to social networks can be 

crucial for those in foster care or student exchange programs, and those in need of support and community outside of 

the home. Moreover, depending on background and citizen status, you may have parents who still feel lost navigating 

digital protocols or insecure about uploading personal forms of documentation. 

Duty of Care versus Being Device Aware 

Rather than have politicians take on a nanny-state stance for social media use, parents and caregivers should be 

encouraged to play a greater part in their child’s online development. By placing the government as the gatekeeper, it 

downplays the purpose of parental involvement and authority and this is a concerning matter given that studies show 

strong “parenting mitigates social media-linked mental health issues”. 



On the other end of the world, James Stephen “Jimmy” 

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Successful diversity statements will be expected to support an unspoken ideology that emphasizes group identity, an 

assumption of group victimization, and a claim for group-based entitlements. Diversity statements compromise both 

academic freedom and academic standards as “purity tests” of an applicant’s worthiness in adherence to a uniform, 

leftist-liberal-progressive view of “diversity.” 

Diversity statements will serve to weed out politically incorrect opinions and politically incorrect candidates because 

only leftist-oriented statements will be acceptable, reinforcing an ideologically uniform and monolithic professoriate. 

In reality, “diversity statements” will be in practice “uniformity statements” of adherence to a uniform view of 

diversity. 

Overall, only diversity statements that adhere to a uniform statement of allegiance to a uniform leftist/liberal/Marxist/ 

progressive view of group identity, group victimization, and a claim for group-based entitlements in higher education 

will enhance and advance a candidate’s application. Failure to profess allegiance and conform to a uniform, orthodox 

diversity agenda, an agenda that ignores the most important diversity in higher education—intellectual and viewpoint 

diversity—will doom an applicant’s job prospects. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 

MARK J. PERRY 

The Problem with Universities Demanding “Diversity 

Statements” 

The quotation of the day on university corruption and 

the lack of diversity when it comes to ideology is from 

Walter E. William’s column this week “More University 

Corruption“: 

For most of the 20th century, universities were dedicated to 

the advancement of knowledge. There was open exchange and 

competition in the marketplace of ideas. Different opinions 

were argued and respected. Most notably in the social sciences, 

social work, the humanities, education, and law, this is no 

longer the case. The most important thing to today’s university 

communities is diversity of race, ethnicity, sex and economic 

class, on which they have spent billions of dollars. Conspicuously 

absent is diversity of ideology. 

Students are taught that all cultural values are morally equivalent. 

That’s ludicrous. Here are a few questions for those who 

make such a claim. Is forcible female genital mutilation, as 

practiced in nearly 30 sub-Saharan African and Middle Eastern 

countries, a morally equivalent cultural value? Slavery is currently 

practiced in Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan; is 

it morally equivalent? In most of the Middle East, there are numerous 

limitations placed on women, such as prohibitions on 

driving, employment and education. Under Islamic law in some 

countries, female adulterers face death by stoning. Thieves 

face the punishment of having their hands severed. Homosexuality 

is a crime punishable by death in some countries. Are 

these cultural values morally equivalent, superior or inferior to 

Western values? 

Diversity statements will actually be anti-diversity statements of uniform, leftist-liberal-progressive 

thought. 

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The latest diversity trend in higher education is the 

increasingly frequent requirement of including a 

“diversity statement” when applying for an academic 

position, and in some cases when applying for tenure 

and/or promotion. Here’s what Dr. Jeffrey Flier, Harvard 

University Distinguished Service Professor and Higginson 

Professor of Physiology and Medicine, and former Dean 

of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University said on 

Twitter last November: 

As a dean of a major academic institution, I could not have 

said this. But I will now. Requiring such statements in applications 

for appointments and promotions is an affront to 

academic freedom, and diminishes the true value of diversity, 

equity of inclusion by trivializing it.screen K-3 students at least 

twice per year using a state-approved assessment.” 

Along with Dr. Flier, here are some reasons I find those 

diversity uniformity statements objectionable. 

What is called a “diversity statement” is essentially a 

pledge of allegiance to higher education’s orthodox and 

uniform agenda in its ongoing battle against a colorblind, 

gender-blind, merit-driven academia. 

Diversity statements will actually be anti-diversity statements of uniform, leftist-liberal-progressive thought that 

completely ignore the diversity of viewpoints, ideology and thought, and are therefore dangerous and misguided 

efforts that are threats to academic freedom and will weaken true intellectual diversity. 



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The implied higher taxes in the future created by deficits and growing debt are routinely ignored. And those are just 

for starters. 

Using misrepresentation upon misrepresentation, “analysts”—who know “they will never work in this town again” 

unless they reach the answers their employers want—can reverse-engineer the assumptions necessary to produce 

them. But they have little relationship to reality and provide virtually no useful guidance. 

Backward Fundraising for Massive Spending Proposals 

The latest illustration of such massively costly simple errors comes from the Green New Deal and other proposals, 

such as Medicare for All, free child care, and free higher education, all to be paid for through taxes on “the rich.” 

Proponents always assert that the rich have enough to pay for each particular piece of their pipedream. But a dollar 

taken for one of those proposals cannot also finance other proposals, and there are not enough tax dollars to do 

everything proposed. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019 

GARY M. GALLES 

Why Government Officials Must Routinely Fudge Basic 

ArithmeticOne 

For as long as politicians have claimed to represent 

“the people,” their power has relied on the idea that 

governing is too complicated or sophisticated to leave to 

ordinary people. 

Common Sense, Not Rocket Science 

This, however, was not the understanding of our 

founding generation. For instance, Cato’s Letters, “the 

most popular, quotable, esteemed source of political 

ideas in the colonial period,” according to Clinton 

Rossiter, said, “The principles of government lie open 

to common sense; but people are taught not to think 

of them at all, or to think of them wrong.” Rather than 

needing people with special, higher understanding to 

take charge of us, “Every ploughman knows a good 

government from a bad one…whether the fruits of his 

labor be his own, and whether he enjoys them in peace 

and security.” 

Experience reinforces our Founders’ view. The errors that 

degrade government policy choices are not sophisticated 

ones requiring insights “far beyond those of mortal men” 

from political Supermen. They are basic errors of logic 

and economic principles. The sophistication comes in 

how those errors are disguised from or misrepresented 

to those to be ruled as a result. 

Further, such government deceptions have far worse 

consequences than our personal self-deceptions. 

Governmental choices are not sophisticated ones requiring insights “far beyond those of 

mortal men” from political Supermen. 

126 

We learn from them because we must bear the 

consequences of our blunders. The same is not true 

of politicians. Government’s fingers also invade 

uncountable areas, with trillions of dollars involved. 

And misrepresenting issues to create political support, 

following the adage that “figures don’t lie, but liars 

figure,” is far surer to reduce citizens’ general welfare 

than advance it. 

Contradictory Reasoning 

Consider the abuse of benefit-cost analysis in evaluating 

government policies. From a technique to organize 

and clarify our judgments, which Ben Franklin used 

a version of, it has morphed into a systematic way of 

misrepresenting reality in the desired political direction. 

Big government backers routinely count multiplier 

effects where the government spends money while 

ignoring that raising the money has similar effects in the 

opposite directions. 

They ignore relevant costs (say, by treating resources 

already owned by the government as costless even 

though they have valuable alternative uses). Double 

counting of benefits is endemic (e.g., counting jobs 

created and income generated as if they are separate 

benefits when those are really two different ways of 

counting the same thing twice). 

Costs and completion dates are massively 

underestimated, overstating benefits (that don’t start 

until later than promised) and understating costs 

Ed Morrissey reports that economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, primary supporters of Elizabeth Warren’s 

proposed wealth tax, estimated that it could raise up to $2.75 trillion over 10 years. But Medicare for All is estimated 

to cost $32 trillion over the same period. Even that draconian tax cannot even approach paying for it. And that basic 

mathematics error is compounded when those same dollars are also represented as able to pay for other promised 

programs (whose cumulative cost may be $93 trillion over a decade). 

Alternatively, if the government took the wealth of every US billionaire, it could cover only about nine months of 

federal outlays, and only once, which could not finance multiple massive increases in government spending. 

Government, supposedly the advancer of our well-being, routinely relies on logical errors, misrepresentations, and 

even basic arithmetic mistakes to justify its policies and proposals. Such manipulation advances the interests of those 

in government and their favorites, not Americans’ general welfare. As Thomas Sowell has written, “When you want to 

help people, you tell them the truth.” 

Can anything good be inferred from how incredibly distant politicians are from that standard? 



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“Without Valentine’s Day, February would be, well, January.” 

– comedian Jim Gaffigan 

“I swear I couldn’t love you more than I do right now, and yet I know I will tomorrow.” 

– author Leo Christopher 

“You don’t love someone because they’re perfect; you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not.” 

– author Jodi Picoult 

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” 

– Jesus, in John 15:13 

“Love is a lot like a toothache. It doesn’t show up on X-rays, but you know it’s there.” 

– comedian George Burns 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 Happy Valentine’s Day! 

LAWRENCE W. REED 

The Origins of Valentine’s Day and Some Reflections on 

the Holiday 

Where does Valentine’s Day come from? A greeting card 

company or a candy company? Neither, but I’m sure it’s 

one of their favorite holidays. 

Or was it Al Capone? He’s the likely culprit responsible 

for the infamous Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago on 

February 14, 1929. Seven members of the Bugs Moran 

gang were shot dead that day, but that’s not the origin of 

the holiday either. 

It’s one of those things that goes back so far that its 

origins are probably not widely known. I had long 

forgotten where it came from so in preparation for this 

column, I looked it up. 

Turns out that it all began with a Christian martyr in 

the late Roman Empire, a man (later canonized as a 

saint) named Valentine. From a mix of truth and legend, 

scholars believe he ministered to fellow Christians 

persecuted by the authorities. Some think he performed 

wedding ceremonies for fellow Christians in defiance 

of imperial law. In any event, it was five centuries later 

before Valentine’s veneration came to be associated with 

February 14. 

Over the last 500 years, the day evolved into a 

celebration of love. Plus cards and candy. We don’t 

usually think of Valentine the man on this date, but it’s 

128 

likely he would approve of at least the love part. 

At my age, I personally don’t do much to note the 

holiday. I send a Valentine card or two, but I eat as much 

candy on the 14th of February as I do any other day. I do, 

however, appreciate some things that others have said 

about Valentine’s Day and the love it has come to mean. 

So rather than say more about it in my own words, allow 

me to share some from those others. 

(I could not in every instance confirm from a primary 

source that the person to whom a quote is credited 

wrote or said it. So pay more attention to the sentiments 

expressed than to whom they are attributed.) 

Taylor Swift sure makes a lot of headlines these days, so 

let’s start with something she wrote 14 years ago in her 

song, “Mine.” It reads, “You’re the best thing that’s ever 

been mine.” I guess that would presently be Travis Kelce 

of the Kansas City Chiefs. Here’s some more: 

“We look forward to the day when the power of love 

replaces the love of power. Then the world will know true 

peace.” 

– British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone 

“Love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy.” 

– Louisa May Alcott 

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” 

– Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” 

– poet Robert Frost 

“We claim to love our fellow citizens while we hand government ever more power over their lives, hopes, and 

pocketbooks. We’ve erected what Margaret Thatcher derisively termed the ‘nanny state,’ in which adults are pushed 

around, dictated to, hemmed in, confiscated from, and smothered with allegedly good intentions as if they are still 

children.” 

– Yours truly 

And finally, one of the funnier ones from an unknown author: “Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning, all 

you need are two hearts and a diamond. By the end, you’re looking for a club and a spade.” 

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

For Additional Information, See: 

The Love of Power Vs the Power of Love by Lawrence W. Reed 

Cultural Appropriation is Love by TJ Brown 

Profits Vs Love by Russell Roberts 

Loving Only Lasts with a Growth Mindset by Barry Brownstein 



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The Board was gratified to see a very strong field of candidates for this position, including over 100 submissions. 

We are confident that Diogo has the vision and leadership to multiply FEE’s effectiveness in making the freedom 

philosophy familiar, credible, and compelling to the next generation. 

It’s been a pleasure working with Larry and the entire staff during this interim period, and I’d like to thank them for 

keeping FEE firing on all cylinders while the search process moved forward. 

I’d also like to thank the many generous donors to FEE who have enabled FEE to maintain its programs without missing 

a beat. I have no doubt that Diogo and the entire staff will do everything in their power to continue to merit this vote 

of confidence that our supporters have expressed in FEE. 



WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2024We are thrilled to begin our next chapter with Diogo at the helm. 

WAYNE OLSON 

Diogo Costa Named 12th President of the Foundation for 

Economic Education 

On behalf of FEE’s Board of Trustees, I am pleased to 

announce that we have elected Diogo Costa as the next 

President of FEE. 

A 17-year veteran of the freedom movement, Diogo 

is widely recognized as both a thought leader and an 

organizational leader in the movement for liberty in 

Brazil, which is among the most robust in the world. 

Diogo began his career in Washington, D.C. in 2007 with 

two two-year stints, one at the Cato Institute and the 

other at the Atlas Network, as a pioneer promoting 

classical liberal ideas in Brazil before they had achieved 

the extraordinary success that they now have in that 

country. This was followed by five years as a teaching 

fellow and a professor of economics and political science 

at universities in Brazil and the United Kingdom, and for 

an online business school in Spain. 

For the past eight years, Diogo has had a series of 

leadership positions in both educational organizations 

and policy-oriented think tanks in Brazil, including 

explicitly free-market shops as well as more mainstream 

organizations that he was able to move in a freedomfriendly 

direction. He is currently the CEO of the Instituto 

Millenium in São Paulo. 

Diogo has a bachelor of law degree from the Catholic 

University of Petropolis, Brazil, earned a master of 

political science degree from Columbia University, and 

completed three years of postgraduate study in political 

economy at King’s College, London. 

In Diogo’s words, “My personal journey with FEE began 

in 2004, when I attended a FEE seminar as a reward for 

winning an essay contest on Ludwig von Mises. This 

experience cemented my commitment to the liberty 

movement. I am excited to be joining FEE as its President, 

bringing my passion, experience and dedication to 

an institution that has been a pivotal part of my own 

journey.” 

In the words of FEE’s Interim President Lawrence W. 

(“Larry”) Reed, “Diogo is a truly exciting choice for FEE. He 

has a deep understanding of our philosophical principles 

as well as a proven track record at guiding organizations 

that teach these ideas and put them into action. It 

reinforces FEE’s long-held conviction that freedom and 

free markets are universal values.” 

After a period of transition at his current employer, 

Diogo will begin as President of FEE in mid-March and 

plans to move permanently to Atlanta within a few 

months. The current leadership team, under Larry’s 

oversight, will work with Diogo to assure a smooth 

transition. 

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Amen. 

Daniels has done a great job controlling costs at Purdue, but I’m even more impressed that he is willing to look at the 

problems for our entire system of higher education (as such, I’ll forgive him for being the budget director during the 

big-spending Bush Administration). 

I especially like his solution, which, in part, would require colleges to repay taxpayers if there are loan defaults, thus 

ensuring that they have some skin in the game: 

…a promising movement is advancing in education to put some of the risk of lousy results — students who do not graduate or who 

graduate without having learned enough to earn their way in the world — on the institutions that “educated” them. It is about 

time. This game has been skinless far too long. …even a small degree of risk-sharing in higher education would cause significant 

behavior change. …Even a small charge, plus the embarrassment of its public announcement, would probably jar many schools 

from their complacent ruts. 

By the way, some people (including Paul Krugman) claim higher tuition is caused by budget cuts. Preston Cooper 

shared some of his research on this issue in the Wall Street Journal: 

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023 


Higher Education Subsidies Are Cleaning Out Students 

and Enriching Bureaucrats 

I’m not as eloquent on the issue as Professor Daniel 

Lin, but I recently explained on Fox Business that 

government subsidies for higher education have enabled 

big increases in tuition, an outcome that has been good 

for bureaucrats and bad for students. 

In effect, this is simply a story of “third-party payer,” 

which happens when consumers get to buy something 

with other people’s money. 

Sellers respond by increasing prices since they know that 

consumers won’t care as much about price. 

Indeed, this is the main problem plaguing America’s 

health sector. 

Simply stated, government subsidies are a recipe for 

higher costs and inefficiency, regardless of the product 

or sector. 

Even though Friedman home-unschooled his own children, he believes “unschooling 

schools” are preferable. 

correctly identifies the problem of third-party payer in a 

column for the Washington Post: 

…let’s design an economic sector guaranteed to cost too much. 

…we will sell a product deemed a necessity, with little or no 

option for the customer to avoid us altogether. Next, we will 

arrange to get paid for inputs, not outputs — how much we 

do, not how well we do it. We will make certain that actual 

results are difficult or impossible to measure with confidence. 

And we’ll layer on a pile of complex federal regulations to run 

up administrative costs. Then, and here’s the clincher, we will 

persuade the marketplace to flood our economic Eden with 

payments not from the user but from some third party. This 

will assure that the customer, insulated from true costs, will 

behave irrationally, often overconsuming and abandoning 

the consumerist judgment he practices at the grocery store or 

while Internet shopping. Presto! Guaranteed excessive spending, 

much of it staying in the pockets of the lucky producers. 

You say, “Oh, sure, this is American health care.” …Your answer 

is correct but incomplete. It worked so well in health care, 

we decided to repeat the formula with higher education. …by 

evading accountability for quality, regulating it heavily, and 

opening a hydrant of public subsidies in the form of government 

grants and loans, we have constructed another system of 

guaranteed overruns. It is the opposite of an accident that the 

only three pricing categories that have outpaced health care 

over recent decades are college tuition, room and board, and 

books. 

A typical student in an American public college pays thousands of dollars more in tuition than just a decade ago. Students and 

parents are worried and frustrated, and many point the finger at state legislators… Hillary Clinton blamed “state disinvestment” in 

higher education for soaring tuition and declared her support for “free college.” While the “disinvestment” narrative is simple and 

appealing, it collapses under scrutiny. …Tuition goes up no matter what state legislators do. Public colleges, with state boundaries 

insulating them from competition, and generous federal student aid programs at their disposal, charge as much as they can get 

away with. Changes in state funding are largely irrelevant. 

He’s right about federal aid enabling higher tuition. Academic scholars have found a very clear link. 

Now let’s focus on the problem of ever-expanding bureaucracy. 

David Frum points out in The Atlantic that college bureaucracies have done a marvelous job of…drum roll…advancing 

the interests of college bureaucracies: 

One of the most famous essays on bureaucracy ever written was built upon a deceptively simple observation. Between 1914 and 

1928, the number of ships in the British Navy declined by 67 percent. The ranks of officers and men shrank by 31 percent. But the 

number of Admiralty officials administering the shrunken force rose by 78 percent. …Here was the origin of Parkinson’s famous 

laws of bureaucracy, including “work expands to fill the time available” and “officials make work for each other.” …Why does college 

education cost so much? The Parkinson of American academia is Ralph Westfall, a professor at California Polytechnic University 

in Pomona. He computed in 2011 that over the 33 years from 1975 to 2008, the number of full-time faculty in the California 

state university system had barely increased at all: up from 11,614 to 12,019. Over the same period, the number of administrators 

had multiplied like little mushrooms: 3,000 had become 12,183. …with our universities. We’ve been thinking of them as institutions 

for teaching and learning—and wondering why we seem to be spending so much without achieving more. But if you think of them 

as institutions generating a perpetual cycle of employment in specialties for which there would otherwise be no demand at all? 

Why in that case, they are succeeding brilliantly. 

George Will, in a column about political correctness and campus snowflakes, shares this factoid about bureaucracy in 

California’s higher education system: 

…between the 1997-1998 academic year and the Great Recession year of 2008-2009, while the University of California student 

population grew 33 percent and tenure-track faculty grew 25 percent, senior administrators grew 125 percent. “The ratio of senior 

managers to professors climbed from 1 to 2.1 to near-parity of 1 to 1.1…” 

We definitely see the bad consequences in higher 

education. Mitch Daniels, the head of Purdue University, 

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Writing for the Boston Globe, Professor Benjamin Ginsberg warned that higher tuition is feeding an ever-expanding 

bureaucracy: 

…over the last half-century, America’s universities have slowly been taken over by a burgeoning class of administrators 

and staffers who are less interested in training future entrepreneurs and thinkers as they are in turning institutions 

of learning into cash cows for a growing academic bureaucracy. …Every year, hosts of administrators and staffers are 

added to university payrolls, even as budget crises force schools to shrink their full-time faculties. There are armies 

of functionaries – vice presidents, associate vice presidents, assistant vice presidents, provosts, associate provosts, 

vice provosts, assistant provosts, deans, deanlets, and deanlings, each commanding staffers and assistants. In turn, 

the ranks of administrators have expanded at nearly twice the rate of the faculty, while administrative staffs have 

outgrown the academics by nearly a factor of five. No wonder college is so expensive! 

Let’s close with this bit of satire from libertarian Reddit: 

P.S. You won’t be surprised to learn that Hillary Clinton, when looking for solutions to a problem caused by government 

subsidies, recommended even more government subsidies. 



134 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2019 


100 Reasons to Homeschool Your Kids 

1. Homeschoolers perform well academically. 

2. Your kids may be happier. 

3. Issues like ADHD might disappear or become less problematic. 

4. It doesn’t matter if they fidget. 

5. YOU may be happier! All that time spent on your kids’ homework can now be used more productively for family 

learning and living. 

6. You can still work and homeschool. 

7. And even grow a successful business while homeschooling your kids. 

8. Your kids can also build successful businesses, as many grown unschoolers become entrepreneurs. 

9. You can be a single parent and homeschool your kids. 

10. Your kids can be little for longer. Early school enrollment has been linked by Harvard researchers with troubling 

rates of ADHD diagnosis. A year can make a big difference in early childhood development. 

11. Some of us are just late bloomers. We don’t all need to be on “America’s early-blooming conveyor belt.” 

12. Then again, homeschooling can help those kids who might be early bloomers and graduate from college at 16. 

13. Whether early, late, or somewhere in the middle, homeschooling allows all children to move at their own pace. 

14. You can choose from a panoply of curriculum options based on your children’s needs and your family’s educational 

philosophy. 

15. Or you can focus on unschooling, a self-directed education approach tied to a child’s interests. 

16. Homeschooling gives your kids plenty of time to play! In a culture where childhood free play is disappearing, preserving 

play is crucial to a child’s health and well-being. 

17. They can have more recess and less homework. 

18. You can take advantage of weekly homeschool park days, field trips, classes, and other gatherings offered 

through a homeschooling group near you. 

19. Homeschooling co-ops are growing, so you can find support and resources. 

20. Homeschooling learning centers are sprouting worldwide, prioritizing self-directed education and allowing more 

flexibility to more families who want to homeschool. 

21. Parks, beaches, libraries, and museums are often less crowded during school hours, and many offer programming 

specifically for homeschoolers. 

From fostering creativity and freedom to providing impressive educational outcomes, homeschooling 

is an increasingly appealing option. 

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May - 

June 




22. You’re not alone. Nearly two million US children are homeschooled, and the homeschooling population is increasingly 

51. You can take vacations at any time of the year without needing permission from the principal. 

reflective of America’s diversity. In fact, the number of black homeschoolers doubled between 2007 and 2011. 

52. Or you can go world-schooling, spending extended periods of time traveling the world together as a family or 

23. One-quarter of today’s homeschoolers are Hispanic-Americans who want to preserve bilingualism and family culture. 

letting your teens travel the world without you. 

53. Your kids can have healthier lunches than they would at school. 

24. Some families of color are choosing homeschooling to escape what they see as poor academic outcomes in 

54. And you can actually enjoy lunch with them rather than being banned from the school cafeteria. 

schools, a curriculum that ignores their cultural heritage, institutional racism, and disciplinary approaches that disproportionately 

55. Your kids don’t have to walk through metal detectors, past armed police officers, and into locked classrooms in 

target children of color. 

order to learn. 

25. More military families are choosing homeschooling to provide stability and consistency through frequent relocations 

56. You can avoid bathroom wars and let your kids go to the bathroom wherever and whenever they want—without 

and deployments. 

raising their hand to ask for permission. 

26. While the majority of homeschoolers are Christians, many Muslim families are choosing to homeschool, as are 

57. Research shows that teen homeschoolers get more sleep than their schooled peers. 

atheists. 

58. Technological innovations make self-education through homeschooling not only possible but also preferable. 

27. Homeschooling has wide bipartisan appeal. 

59. Free, online learning programs like Khan Academy, Duolingo, Scratch, Prodigy Math, and MIT OpenCourseWare 

28. More urban parents are choosing to homeschool, prioritizing family and individualized learning. 

complement learning in an array of topics, while others, like Lynda.com and Mango, may be available for free through 

29. Religious freedom may be important to many homeschooling families, but it is not the primary reason they choose 

your local public library. 

to homeschool. “Concern about the school environment, such as safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure” is the top 

60.Schooling was for the Industrial Age, but unschooling is for the future. 

motivator according to federal data. 

61. With robots doing more of our work, we need to rely more on our distinctly human qualities, like curiosity and 

30. Fear of school shootings and widespread bullying are other concerns that are prompting more families to consider 

ingenuity, to thrive in the Innovation Era. 

the homeschooling option. 

62. Homeschooling could be the “smartest way to teach kids in the 21st century,” according to Business Insider. 

31. Some parents choose homeschooling because they are frustrated by Common Core curriculum frameworks and 

63. Teen homeschoolers can enroll in an online high school program to earn a high school diploma if they choose. 

frequent testing in public schools. 

64. But young people don’t need a high school diploma in order to go to college. 

32. Adolescent anxiety, depression, and suicide decline during the summer, but Vanderbilt University researchers 

65. Many teen homeschoolers take community college classes and transfer into four-year universities with significant 

found that suicidal tendencies spike at back-to-school time. (This is a pattern opposite to that of adults, who experience 

credits and cost-savings. Research suggests that community college transfers also do better than their non-transfer 

more suicidal thoughts and acts in the summertime.) Homeschooling your kids may reduce these school-induced 

peers. 

mental health issues. 

66. Homeschooling may be the new path to Harvard. 

33. It will also prevent schools from surreptitiously collecting and tracking data on your child’s mental health. 

67. Many colleges openly recruit and welcome homeschoolers because they tend to be “innovative thinkers.” 

34. Your kids’ summertime can be fully self-directed, as can the rest of their year. 

68. But college doesn’t need to be the only pathway to a meaningful adult life and livelihood. Many lucrative jobs don’t 

35. That’s because kids thrive under self-directed education. 

require a college degree, and companies like Google and Apple have dropped their degree requirements. 

69. In fact, more homeschooling families from the tech community in Silicon Valley and elsewhere are choosing to 

36. Some kids are asking to be homeschooled. 

homeschool their kids. 

37. And they may even thank you for it. 

70. Hybrid homeschooling models are popping up everywhere, allowing more families access to this educational 

38. Today’s teens aren’t working in part-time or summer jobs like they used to. Homeschooling can offer time for valuable 

option. 

teen work experience. 

71. Some of these hybrid homeschool programs are public charter schools that are free to attend and actually give 

39. It can also provide the opportunity to cultivate teen entrepreneurial skills. 

families access to funds for homeschooling. 

40. Your kids don’t have to wait for adulthood to pursue their passions. 

72. Other education choice mechanisms, like Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) and tax-credit scholarship programs, 

41. By forming authentic connections with community members, homeschoolers can take advantage of teen apprenticeship 

are expanding to include homeschoolers, offering financial assistance to those families who need and want it. 

programs. 

73. Some states allow homeschoolers to fully participate in their local school sports teams and extracurricular 

activities. 

42. Some apprenticeship programs have a great track record on helping homeschoolers build important career skills 

74. Homeschooling may be particularly helpful for children with disabilities, like dyslexia, as the personalized learning 

and get great jobs. 

model allows for more flexibility and customization. 

43. Self-directed learning centers for teen homeschoolers can provide a launchpad for community college classes and 

75. Homeschooling is growing in popularity worldwide, especially in India, Australia, the United Kingdom, Israel, and 

jobs while offering peer connection and adult mentoring. 

even in China, where it’s illegal. 

44. With homeschooling, you can inspire your kids to love reading. 

76. Homeschooling grants children remarkable freedom and autonomy, particularly self-directed approaches like 

45. Maybe that’s because they will actually read books, something one-quarter of Americans reported not doing in 

unschooling, but it’s definitely not the Lord of the Flies. 

77. Homeschooling allows for much more authentic, purposeful learning tied to interests and everyday interactions in 

2014. 

the community rather than contrived assignments at school. 

46. Your kids might even choose to voluntarily read financial statements or do worksheets. 

78. Throughout the American colonial and revolutionary eras, homeschooling was the norm, educating leaders like 

47. You can preserve their natural childhood creativity. 

George Washington and Abigail Adams. 

48. Schools kill creativity, as Sir Ken Robinson proclaims in his TED Talk, the most-watched one ever. 

79. In fact, many famous people were homeschooled. 

49. Homeschooling might even help your kids use their creativity in remarkable ways, as other well-known homeschoolers 

80. And many famous people homeschool their own kids. 

have done. 

81. Your homeschooled kids will probably be able to name at least one right protected by the First Amendment of 

50. With homeschooling, learning happens all the time, all year round. There are no arbitrary starts and stops. 

the US Constitution, something 37 percent of adults who participated in a recent University of Pennsylvania survey 

couldn’t do. 

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82. Homeschooling can be preferable to school because it’s a totally different learning environment. As homeschooling 

pioneer John Holt wrote in Teach Your Own: “What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children’s 

growth in the world is not that it is a better school than the schools but that it isn’t a school at all.” 

83. Immersed in their larger community and engaged in genuine, multi-generational activities, homeschoolers tend to 

be better socialized than their schooled peers. Newer studies suggest the same. 

84. Homeschoolers interact daily with an assortment of people in their community in pursuit of common interests, not 

in an age-segregated classroom with a handful of teachers. 

85. Research suggests that homeschoolers are more politically tolerant than others. 

86. They can dig deeper into emerging passions, becoming highly proficient. 

87. They also have the freedom to quit. 

88. They can spend abundant time outside and in nature. 

89. Homeschooling can create strong sibling relationships and tight family bonds. 

90. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 US states and has been since 1993, but regulations vary widely by state. 

91. In spite of ongoing efforts to regulate homeschoolers, US homeschooling is becoming less regulated. 

92. That’s because homeschooling parents are powerful defenders of education freedom. 

93. Parents can focus family learning around their own values, not someone else’s. 

94. Homeschooling is one way to get around regressive compulsory schooling laws and put parents back in charge of 

their child’s education. 

95. It can free children from coercive, test-driven schooling. 

96. It is one education option among many to consider as more parents opt-out of mass schooling. 

97. Homeschooling is the ultimate school choice. 

98. It is inspiring education entrepreneurship to disrupt the schooling status quo. 

99. And it’s encouraging frustrated educators to leave the classroom and launch their own alternatives to school. 

100. Homeschooling is all about having the liberty to learn. 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2024 


Schools With “Radical Politics” Must Be Tolerated in a 

Free Society 

There is a lot of concern these days about what type of 

curriculum is—or is not—being taught to schoolchildren. 

“Curriculum transparency” has become a key talking 

point, as parents seek to know what subject matter their 

children are exposed to during the school day. 

In a free market, schools that focus on socialist ideology and “radical politics” could exist. 

are compelled to attend and that taxpayers are forced 

to fund. It’s the coercive, one-size-fits-all nature of public 

schooling that inevitably creates conflict. (See the Cato 

Institute’s Public Schooling Battle Map for a running list 

of these conflicts.) 

Sometimes there are surprises. The Free Press published 

In a private, decentralized K-12 education market, these 

an article last week entitled, “Kids Get Schooled On 

conflicts would be minimized as families freely choose 

Radical Politics,” exposing a coloring book with socialist 

the educational environment that is most aligned with 

and collectivist undertones that elementary school 

their distinct values and preferences without imposing 

students in a Brooklyn, New York public school are 

their will upon others. If parents disagreed with a 

apparently using as part of their studies for Black History 

school’s curriculum or politics, they could simply leave 

Month. 

and find a different school. If enough parents left, the 

school would close. 

Some parents only became aware of this curriculum 

due to a snow day that brought the material into their 

In a free market, schools that focus on socialist ideology 

homes. According to the article, two parents who 

and “radical politics” could exist. In fact, I have visited 

emigrated to the US from Communist China and the 

several microschools and homeschool co-ops that have 

former Soviet Union, respectively, were particularly 

a socialist bent or a proclivity toward “radical politics.” 

alarmed by the similarities they saw to the socialist 

Similarly, I have visited microschools and homeschool 

propaganda they were exposed to as children. Other 

co-ops that express other ideologies, such as different 

parents were concerned that their children weren’t 

religious and cultural worldviews and diverse political 

actually learning Black history from these materials. 

persuasions—not to mention a host of different 

educational philosophies.higher. These numbers 

While it’s not surprising that some families would be 

demonstrate the sharp increase in the number of 



upset by this curriculum, the main issue here is that this 

Americans earning college degrees. 

is happening in a government-run school that children 

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139



Unlike mandatory public school assignments, these are all examples of privately-run schools and spaces that families 

are voluntarily selecting for their children. As the economic journalist Henry Hazlitt reminds us: “The ‘private sector’ of 

the economy is, in fact, the voluntary sector…the ‘public sector’ is, in fact, the coercive sector.” 

An assortment of low-cost private schools and innovative learning models with varied ideologies and approaches is 

appearing across the country. These are being created by entrepreneurial parents and teachers who are building the 

accessible, personalized, responsive learning communities that families want. You can read about 35 of them in my 

case study. 

I think one of the trickiest tasks ahead for the educational freedom movement generally, and the current school 

choice movement in particular, will be embracing pluralism. A dynamic free market in education, just as in any other 

sector, will have oodles of options—including some that we may personally loathe. While we can try to persuade 

others not to choose certain types of education, just as we can try to persuade them not to eat Lucky Charms and to 

choose organic oatmeal instead, the choice—and consequences—are ultimately theirs. 

In a free market for education, defined by choice and entrepreneurship, some families could indeed choose schools 

that promote socialism. As libertarians, we should respect their rights to do that. “One difference between libertarianism 

and socialism is that a socialist society can’t tolerate groups of people practicing freedom, while a libertarian 

society can comfortably allow people to choose voluntary socialism,” wrote the Cato Institute’s David Boaz. 

Our role as libertarians can be to help convey the importance of pluralism to a free, flourishing, and harmonious 

society—while championing individualism over collectivism. We can also remind others that a voluntary, decentralized 

education market will have a variety and abundance of choices, including some that we like and some that we don’t. 



140 

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024 


A Robust Education Marketplace Means Some Schools 

Will Fail 

A couple of years ago, I was presenting at a small 

education conference in New York when someone 

asked what a success indicator might be for a dynamic, 

decentralized education marketplace. 

“When we see some schools shutting down,” I responded. 

In an education free market, parents are the customers. 

If they are not satisfied with a particular school’s 

offerings, they can and will leave—just as they would 

stop using any other product or service that doesn’t meet 

their expectations. If enough parents aren’t satisfied 

and leave, the school will shut down. This is a signal of 

a vibrant, competitive educational marketplace. It is the 

ultimate accountability metric. 

It’s perhaps because true accountability in the education 

system is so rare that when it does occur it can prompt 

concern. That was the case with a new microschool in 

West Virginia that shuttered after just a few months in 

operation. Parents weren’t happy with their children’s 

program so they demanded, and received, a refund 

and the school closed. It was an example of the market 

working well, not poorly. As the Nobel Prize-winning 

economist Friedrich Hayek wrote in The Road to Serfdom: 

“Our freedom of choice in a competitive society rests on 

the fact that, if one person refuses to satisfy our wishes, 

we can turn to another.” 

Any efforts to control new school startups or create “guardrails” around them will only 

slow educational progress and stymie entrepreneurship and innovation. 

141 

Still, this small business failure raised alarm bells 

because the families who attended the microschool 

received funds through West Virginia’s new school 

choice program, the Hope Scholarship education savings 

account (ESA), that enables families to access a portion of 

state-allocated education funding to use toward a variety 

of educational expenses, including microschools. 

“Hailed by Republicans, and fueled by the spread of ESAs, 

microschools operate out of homes, storefronts and 

churches with a degree of freedom from government 

oversight. But the West Virginia episode shows that 

managing that freedom while maintaining public 

accountability can be a tricky balancing act…,” The 

74’s Linda Jacobson recently reported, adding that the 

state Treasurer’s office is conducting an investigation 

and some advocates are calling for “guardrails” around 

education entrepreneurship. 

Yet, the “public accountability” in this instance was full 

and immediate, thanks to a decentralized, competitive 

education market. The parents left and got their Hope 

Scholarship funds back, and the school closed. This is 

a far cry from the supposedly taxpayer-accountable 

West Virginia public schools which are among the worst 

performing in the nation and yet see increasing budgets.



“School choice is successful at growing good schools and closing bad schools,” said Katie Switzer, a West Virginia parent 

and ardent supporter of school choice policies such as the Hope Scholarship. “How long do you think it would take 

a poor-performing traditional public school to be closed or overhauled? Certainly more than a few months,” she told 

me, referencing how quickly the undesirable microschool closed. 

Indeed, school choice policies can help to accelerate education entrepreneurship, catalyze innovation and experimentation, 

and make new K-12 schools and learning spaces more accessible to more families. Sometimes, these new 

schools and spaces will fail, just as 20 percent of all U.S. businesses do within their first two years, and nearly half do 

within their first five years. But surely it’s better to let bad schools fail than to preserve the status quo, which keeps 

them open in perpetuity. 

The West Virginia microschool failure demonstrates a feature of the free market, not a flaw. The great strength of 

the market approach is that free people are able to freely choose products and services aligned with their individual 

needs and preferences and take their business elsewhere when they are not satisfied. 

Any efforts to control new school startups or create “guardrails” around them will only slow educational progress and 

stymie entrepreneurship and innovation. As the economist Milton Friedman reminds us: “Underlying most arguments 

against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.” Let’s believe in freedom—in education and beyond. 



142 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019 

JAMES D. AGRESTI 

The Poorest 20% of Americans Are Richer on Average 

Than Most European Nations 

A groundbreaking study by Just Facts has discovered 

that after accounting for all income, charity, and noncash 

welfare benefits like subsidized housing and food 

stamps, the poorest 20 percent of Americans consume 

more goods and services than the national averages for 

all people in most affluent countries. This includes the 

majority of countries in the prestigious Organization 

for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 

including its European members. In other words, if the 

US “poor” were a nation, it would be one of the world’s 

richest. 

Notably, this study was reviewed by Dr. Henrique 

Schneider, professor of economics at Nordakademie 

University in Germany and the chief economist of the 

Swiss Federation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. 

After examining the source data and Just Facts’ 

methodology, he concluded: “This study is sound and 

conforms with academic standards. I personally think 

it provides valuable insight into poverty measures and 

adds considerably to this field of research.” 

The “Poorest” Rich Nation? 

The privilege of living in the US affords poor people more material resources than the averages 

for most of the world’s richest nations. 

has “fallen well behind Europe” in many respects and has 

“more in common with ‘developing countries’ than we’d 

like to admit.” 

“One good test” of this, they say, is how the US ranks 

in the OECD, a group of “36 countries, predominantly 

wealthy, Western, and Democratic.” While examining 

these rankings, they corrupt the truth in ways that 

violate the Times’ op-ed standards, which declare that 

“you can have any opinion you would like,” but “the facts 

in a piece must be supported and validated,” and “you 

can’t say that a certain battle began on a certain day if it 

did not.” 

A prime example is their claim that “America is the 

richest country” in the OECD, “but we’re also the poorest, 

with a whopping 18% poverty rate—closer to Mexico 

than Western Europe.” That assertion prompted Just 

Facts to conduct a rigorous, original study of this issue 

with data from the OECD, the World Bank, and the US 

government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. It found that 

the Times is not merely wrong about this issue but is also 

reporting the polar opposite of reality. 

Poor Compared to Whom? 

In a July 1 New York Times video op-ed that decries “fake 

The most glaring evidence against the Times’ rhetoric is 

news” and calls for “a more truthful approach” to “the 

a note located just above the OECD’s data for poverty 

myth of America as the greatest nation on earth,” Times 

rates. It explains that these rates measure relative 

producers Taige Jensen and Nayeema Raza claim the US 

poverty within nations, not between nations. 

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May 

May - 





As the note states, the figures represent portions of people with less than “half the median household income” in their 

The World Bank publishes a comprehensive dataset on consumption that isn’t dependent on the accuracy of household 

own nations and thus “two countries with the same poverty rates may differ in terms of the relative income-level of 

surveys and includes all goods and services, but it only provides the average consumption per person in each 

the poor.” 

nation—not the poorest people in each nation. 

The upshot is laid bare by the fact that this OECD measure assigns a higher poverty rate to the US (17.8 percent) than 

to Mexico (16.6 percent). Yet World Bank data show that 35 percent of Mexico’s population lives on less than $5.50 per 

However, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis published a study that provides exactly that for 2010. Combined with 

day, compared to only 2 percent of people in the United States. 

World Bank data for the same year, these datasets show that the poorest 20 percent of US households have higher 

average consumption per person than the averages for all people in most nations of the OECD and Europe:hold surveys 

and includes all goods and services, but it only provides the average consumption per person in each nation—not 

Hence, the OECD’s poverty rates say nothing about which nation is “the poorest.” Nonetheless, this is exactly how the 

Times misrepresented them. 

the poorest people in each nation. 

The same point applies to broader discussions about poverty, which can be measured in two very different ways: (1) 

relative poverty or (2) absolute poverty. Relative measures of poverty, like the one cited by the Times, can be misleading 

if the presenter does not answer the question: Poor compared to who? Absolute measures, like the number of 

people with income below a certain level, are more straightforward and enlightening. 

Unmeasured Income and Benefits 

To accurately compare living standards across or within nations, it is necessary to account for all major aspects of 

material welfare. None of the data above does this. 

The OECD data is particularly flawed because it is based on “income,” which excludes a host of non-cash government 

benefits and private charity that are abundant in the United States. Examples include but are not limited to: 

• Health care provided by Medicaid, free clinics, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program 

• Nourishment provided by food stamps, school lunches, school breakfasts, soup kitchens, food pantries, and the 

Women’s, Infants’ & Children’s program 

• Housing and amenities provided through rent subsidies, utility assistance, and homeless shelters 

The World Bank data includes those items but is still incomplete because it is based on government “household surveys,” 

and US low-income households greatly underreport both their income and non-cash benefits in such surveys. As 

documented in a 2015 paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives entitled “Household Surveys in Crisis”: 

• “In recent years, more than half of welfare dollars and nearly half of food stamp dollars have been missed in several 

major” government surveys. 

• There has been “a sharp rise” in the underreporting of government benefits received by low-income households in 

the United States. 

• This “understatement of incomes” masks “the poverty-reducing effects of government programs” and leads to “an 

overstatement of poverty and inequality.” 

Likewise, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis explains that such surveys “have issues with recalling income and 

expenditures and are subject to deliberate underreporting of certain items.” The US Census Bureau says much the 

same, writing that “for many different reasons there is a tendency in household surveys for respondents to underreport 

their income.” 

There is also a wider lesson here. When politicians and the media talk about income inequality, they often use statistics 

that fail to account for large amounts of income and benefits received by low- and middle-income households. 

This greatly overstates inequality and feeds deceptive narratives. 

Relevant, Reliable Data 

The World Bank’s “preferred” indicator of material well-being is “consumption” of goods and services. This is due to 

“practical reasons of reliability and because consumption is thought to better capture long-run welfare levels than 

current income.” Likewise, as a 2003 paper in the Journal of Human Resources explains: 

However, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis published a study that provides exactly that for 2010. Combined with 

World Bank data for the same year, these datasets show that the poorest 20 percent of US households have higher 

average consumption per person than the averages for all people in most nations of the OECD and Europe: 

The high consumption of America’s “poor” 

doesn’t mean they live better than average 

people in the nations they outpace, like Spain, 

Denmark, Japan, Greece, and New Zealand. This 

is because people’s quality of life also depends 

on their communities and personal choices, 

like the local politicians they elect, the violent 

crimes they commit, and the spending decisions 

they make. 

For instance, a Department of Agriculture 

study found that US households receiving food 

stamps spend about 50 percent more on sweetened 

drinks, desserts, and candy than on fruits 

and vegetables. In comparison, households not 

receiving food stamps spend slightly more on 

fruits & vegetables than on sweets. 

Nonetheless, the fact remains that the privilege of living in the US affords poor people more material resources than 

the averages for most of the world’s richest nations. 

Another important strength of this data is that it is adjusted for purchasing power to measure tangible realities like 

square feet of living area, foods, smartphones, etc. This removes the confounding effects of factors like inflation and 

exchange rates. Thus, an apple in one nation is counted the same as an apple in another. 

To spot-check the results for accuracy, Just Facts compared the World Bank consumption figure for the entire US with 

the one from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. They were within 2 percent of each other. All of the data, documentation, 

and calculations are available in this spreadsheet. 

In light of these facts, the Times’ claim that the US has “more in common with ‘developing countries’ than we’d like to 

admit” is especially far-fetched. In 2010, even the poorest 20 percent of Americans consumed three to 30 times more 

goods and services than the averages for all people in a wide array of developing nations around the world. 

• “[R]esearch on poor households in the U.S. suggests that consumption is better reported than income” and is “a 

more direct measure of material well-being.” 

• “[C]onsumption standards were behind the original setting of the poverty line,” but governments now use income 

because of its “ease of reporting.” 

144 

145



These immense gaps in standards of living are a 

major reason why people from developing nations 

immigrate to the US instead of vice versa. 

Why Is the US So Much Richer? 

Instead of maligning the United States, the Times 

could have covered this issue in a way that would 

help people around the world improve their material 

well-being by replicating what makes the US so 

successful. However, that would require conveying 

the following facts, many of which the Times has 

previously misreported: 

High energy prices, like those caused by ambitious 

“green energy” programs in Europe, depress living 

standards, especially for the poor. 

High tax rates reduce incentives to work, save, and invest, and these can have widespread harmful effects. 

Abundant social programs can reduce market income through multiple mechanisms—and as explained by President 

Obama’s former chief economist Lawrence Summers, “government assistance programs” provide people with “an 

incentive, and the means, not to work.” 

The overall productivity of each nation trickles down to the poor, and this is partly why McDonald’s workers in the US 

have more real purchasing power than in Europe and six times more than in Latin America, even though these workers 

perform the same jobs with the same technology. 

Family disintegration driven by changing attitudes toward sex, marital fidelity, and familial responsibility has strong, 

negative impacts on household income. 

In direct contradiction to the Times, a wealth of data suggests that aggressive government regulations harm economies. 

Many other factors correlate with the economic conditions of nations and individuals, but the above are some key 

ones that give the US an advantage over many European and other OECD countries.current income.” Likewise, as a 

2003 paper in the Journal of Human Resources explains: 

• “[R]esearch on poor households in the U.S. suggests that consumption is better reported than income” and is “a 

more direct measure of material well-being.” 

• “[C]onsumption standards were behind the original setting of the poverty line,” but governments now use income 

because of its “ease of reporting.” 

“The Truth Is Worth It” 

The Times closes its video by claiming that “America may once have been the greatest, but today America, we’re just 

okay.” In reality, the US is so economically exceptional that the poorest 20 percent of Americans are richer than many 

of the world’s most affluent nations. 

Last year, the Times adopted a new slogan: “The truth is worth it.” Yet, in this case, and others, it has twisted the truth 

in ways that can genuinely hurt people. The Times makes other spurious claims about the US in this same video, which 

will be deflated in future articles. 



FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019 

KEVIN BALDEOSINGH 

Why Are There so Few Female Mathematicians? 

Hannah Fry, an associate professor in the mathematics 

of cities at University College London, has been chosen to 

present the 2019 Royal Institution’s Christmas lectures. 

Fry is undoubtedly a good choice to present such an 

abstruse subject to a lay audience. She’s one of the few 

mathematicians who is known outside the mathematics 

tower, having appeared on many BBC programs and 

YouTube videos. She has written three popular books in 

addition to the ten professional papers on her résumé. 

The Institution’s annual science lectures stretch back to 

1825, and Fry’s talk will be only the fourth that deals with 

mathematical issues. 

A Mathematical Doctor’s Oath 

What’s rather odd is that Fry’s lectures seem geared 

more to warn people about mathematics rather than 

celebrate it, or at least her subject is being pitched that 

way. According to the Institution, she will be examining 

“how our unwavering faith in figures can lead to disaster 

when we get the sums wrong” and asking “big ethical 

questions” such as “Are there any problems maths can’t 

or shouldn’t solve?” In an interview with The Guardian, 

she argues that mathematicians should be made to take 

some equivalent of doctors’ Hippocratic Oath because 

We’ve got all these tech companies filled with very young, 

very inexperienced, often white boys who have lived in maths 

departments and computer science departments. 

The 18th and 19th centuries saw the emergence of several eminent female mathematicians 

in Europe. Yet mathematics today remains a largely male field. 

Now, Fry is the furthest thing from an ideologue. Indeed, 

her book, The Mathematics of Love, has none of the 

standard flaws that define many third-wave feminist 

tracts; the book is dispassionate, witty, and statistically 

accurate. So why would Fry throw out this sexist and 

racial language without even a beat for thought? Perhaps 

her perspective on privilege has been skewed by her 

being a minority female member of a very exclusive male 

group. 

Even top women mathematicians, despite being highly 

successful within their chosen field, tend to attribute the 

gender disparity in mathematics to masculine bias. Karen 

Uhlenbeck, who in March became the first woman to 

be awarded the Abel Prize, the second most prestigious 

honor in mathematics after the Fields Medal, said, 

I remain quite disappointed at the numbers of women doing 

mathematics and in leadership positions. This is, to my mind, 

primarily due to the culture of the mathematical community as 

well as harsh societal pressures from outside. 

Does the research back this up? Historically, while 

the first female mathematician is generally held to be 

Hypatia of Alexandria, who lived 1600 years ago, it was 

the 18th and 19th centuries that saw the emergence of 

several eminent women mathematicians in the supposedly 

inflexible patriarchy of Europe. 

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Female Mathematicians 

These included Maria Agnesi (1718-1799), an Italian philosopher and mathematician who was the first female to be 

appointed as a mathematics professor; Sophie Germain (1776-1831), whose paper on elasticity theory made her the 

first woman to be awarded by the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1816; and Emmy Noether (1882-1935), a German 

mathematician who worked on non-commutative algebras, hyper-complex numbers, and commutative rings and 

was awarded the Ackermann-Teuber Memorial Award in 1932. Considering high mathematical ability is always rare, 

the fact that these women’s work was recognized centuries ago suggests that the bias narrative is at least somewhat 

exaggerated. 

Nonetheless, it remains a fact that even after decades of special programs to get women more involved in STEM fields, 

females are still under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and especially high-level mathematics. Lists of 

the world’s top mathematicians typically include just one woman, if any at all, even when those lists are compiled by 

female mathematicians or left-leaning newspapers. Indeed, feminist websites often pad their lists of female mathematicians 

by including celebrities like Big Bang actress Mayim Bialik, whose PhD is in neuroscience, not mathematics; 

Channel 4 presenter Rachel Riley, who has only an undergraduate degree in the subject; and even Nobel Peace Prize 

winner Malala Yousafzai, who went no further than A-Level Maths. 

While social factors do explain some of the gender differences, the best evidence suggests that top mathematicians 

are born rather than made and that more boys than girls are born that way. In a 2008 essay in Scientific American, 

Diane F. Halpern, probably the world’s second-leading researcher in cognitive sex differences (after Simon Baron-Cohen), 

and her colleagues note that in America’s Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs), twice as many boys as girls score 500 

or above on the math portion, and there are 13 times as many boys with scores of at least 700. 

Halpern et al write: 

Boys shine on the math part of the SAT – resulting in a difference of about 40 points which has been maintained over 35 years…the 

difference in average quantitative ability between girls and boys is actually quite small. What sets boys apart is that many more of 

them are mathematically gifted. 

Thus, we find that in the UK, fewer than 20 percent of female students are pursuing engineering or computer science, 

and fewer than 40 percent are doing mathematics. The gender disparity is three to four times larger for post-graduate 

students. And because both sexes prefer to work in fields that they’re better at, women and men make different 

career choices. As a 2014 US study that tracked a top 1 percent cohort of mathematically gifted 13-year-old boys and 

girls to adulthood found: 

Men were more likely than women to be chief executives and to be employed in information technology and STEM positions, 

whereas women were more likely to be found in general business, elementary and secondary education, and health care (below the 

doctoral level), and were also more likely to be homemakers. Yet in some demanding fields—finance, medicine, and law—men and 

women were represented to about the same degree. 

So, in a field dominated by white (and Asian) males, The Guardian reports that Ms. Fry wants mathematicians to take 

an ethical pledge that will 

commit them to think deeply about the possible applications of their work and compel them to pursue only those that, at the least, 

do no harm to society. 

Had Albert Einstein taken heed of this advice, would he have suppressed E=mc2? 



TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 


Why Are There so Few Female Mathematicians? 

Humans tend to romanticize the past. In many ways, it helps us see the good in what has been and what is now, but 

in other ways, it disguises the truth. 

The history of American public schooling is a notable example of viewing history through rose-colored glasses. In my 

college and graduate school education classes, I read books and articles about how American public schooling was 

intended to be a great equalizer, to provide opportunity and social mobility to every child regardless of background. 

But I also learned that the rosy stories I had been taught about American history, from Christopher Columbus to 

Thomas Jefferson, had a darker side not often revealed. Did the origin of American schooling have a similar shadow? 

The Truth About Compulsory Education 

It turns out it did. The myth we have been told about the history of American public schooling as a national treasure 

that nurtures our democracy is untrue. The reality is that 19th-century politicians and citizens were fearful of and 

overwhelmed by rapid societal change, as thousands of immigrants streamed into American cities in the mid-1800s. 

Between 1830 and 1840 U.S. immigration quadrupled, and between 1840 and 1850, it tripled again. Particularly troubling 

to lawmakers at the time was the fact that many of these new immigrants were Irish Catholics who threatened 

the dominant Anglo-Saxon Protestant cultural and religious customs. “Those now pouring in upon us, in masses of 

thousands upon thousands, are wholly of another kind in morals and intellect,” mourned the Massachusetts state 

legislature regarding the new Boston immigrants. 

Universal, taxpayer-funded “common schools” became the mechanism to rein in these masses and “Americanize” 

them to societal norms. Interestingly, many of the Irish Catholic immigrant families didn’t want to send their children 

to these so-called “secular” schools that continued to reflect prevailing Protestant ideals and texts. So the solution for 

lawmakers was simply to make them attend. 

1852 marks the onset of what public schooling advocates herald as universal, taxpayer-supported public schooling for 

all children regardless of background. What is often missing is the acknowledgment that the 1852 compulsory schooling 

law, passed in Massachusetts and subsequently replicated in all states, was the first to mandate school attendance 

under a legal threat of force. 

Many families rebelled. Catholics, for example, created their own private, parochial schools. Outraged by this action, 

lawmakers throughout the country began in the 1880s to pass laws known as Blaine Amendments that prohibited any 

public funding for private schools. These laws remain today in many states, and are at the heart of the debate around 

school choice, particularly, vouchers that would enable parents to receive public money to use at private schools. 

Outlawing Private Schools 

The myth about public schooling as a national treasure that nurtures our democracy is 

untrue. 

Beyond limiting access to funding, citizens and lawmakers sought additional ways to outlaw private schools and 

compel children to attend public schools. In 1922, Oregon passed an expanded compulsory schooling law requiring 

all children to attend a public school, thus prohibiting attendance at parochial and private schools. In 1925, in the 

landmark case of Pierce v. Society of Sisters, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Oregon law as unconstitutional. 

In delivering the opinion of the Court, Justice McReynolds wrote: 

…the Act of 1922 unreasonably interferes with the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education 

of children under their control…The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union 

repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from 

public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny 

have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” 

In her October Atlantic, “The War on Public Schools,” Erika Christakis takes aim at current efforts to place education 

decision-making back in the hands of parents and away from the state. She says these school choice efforts, like charter 

schools and vouchers, threaten American public schooling. Christakis writes: 

So what happens when we neglect the public purpose of our publicly funded schools? The discussion of vouchers and 

charter schools, in its focus on individual rights, has failed to take into account American society at large. The costs of 

abandoning an institution designed to bind, not divide, our citizenry are high.” 

Binding society by force, to inculcate a particular cultural doctrine, is not what builds a free, tolerant, and thriving 

democracy. Perhaps something erected on questionable moral and historical grounds should be removed. 

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https://fee.org/



All of the children are recognized homeschoolers, with most attending two to three days a week. The full-time, 

five-day option costs $900/month. “For the majority of our families, COVID was the catalyst to them beginning their 

homeschooling journey,” said Kaiti Dewhirst, Bloomsbury Farm’s Director of Education. She says now these families 

don’t want their children in a conventional classroom. “They see the farm school as an opportunity to preserve 

childhood wonder.” Dewhirst and her team are in the planning stages of determining how to extend their program to 

middle school and beyond, as well as serve more families on the waitlist. 

In Franklin, another Nashville suburb, Harpeth Montessori opened its doors as a recognized private school in fall 2021 

with over 40 learners, including toddlers to fifth graders. Today, it has nearly 100 students and 16 staff members. 

Founders Greg and Jennifer Biorkman never expected to own a school. Both have backgrounds in business and sales 

and were working full-time jobs when COVID hit and disrupted the education of their two young boys. They decided to 

create their ideal learning environment with trained Montessori teachers and a focus on child-centered learning. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2024 


The Microschool Movement Is Taking Off in Tennessee 

I recently heard someone dismiss microschools as 

insignificant in the education space due to their size. It’s 

true that microschools are intentionally small, typically 

below 100 students, but they are steadily growing 

nationwide. Small things sometimes make the biggest 

impact. For example, the 33 million small businesses in 

the U.S. form the backbone of the economy, comprising 

99.9 percent of all companies and employing more than 

61 million people. 

Small is scalable. 

In addition to their small size, microschools are also 

usually low-cost, highly personalized learning programs, 

often with a creative curriculum and supple scheduling. 

They were gaining momentum pre-pandemic and took off 

following COVID school closures and prolonged remote 

learning. As someone who has been following alternative 

education trends for years, I suspected microschooling 

— and its cousin, homeschooling — would remain above 

pre-pandemic levels even after schools returned to 

normal. But I have been pleasantly surprised to see a 

continued acceleration of these programs in many areas 

of the country. 

Tennessee is a case in point. I recently visited five 

microschools and related learning models around 

Nashville and Chattanooga. All of them have launched in 

A visit to five microschools across the state reveals lively classrooms, booming enrollment, 

and growing waitlists that point to spiking demand. 

the past four years and most opened within the past two waitlist. 

150 

years. Their enrollment is quickly rising, and some have 

already hit capacity with long waitlists. Demand for these 

start-up schools shows no signs of slowing. 

The oldest of the programs I visited opened in August 

2020. Located on an organic farm in Smyrna, Tennessee, 

about 20 miles outside of Nashville, Bloomsbury Farm 

School began with one teacher and five homeschooled 

children, including farmer Lauren Palmer’s own five-yearold. 

By January 2021, the program had 30 children and 

two teachers. Today, it is a Reggio Emilia-inspired K-5 

farm school, with additional parent-child programming 

for littler ones, that serves 86 children. 

Blending core academics and interest-driven learning, 

along with abundant outside time and opportunities 

to help with farm duties, the farm school is currently 

at maximum enrollment, with dozens of children on a 

“We truly could not find a school we wanted to send our children to,” said Jennifer. “It was simple supply and demand.” 

Last year, Greg left his corporate job to oversee Harpeth Montessori full time, and is planning to expand the program 

to middle schoolers in the fall while managing a growing waitlist. 

“This community is very open to alternatives to conventional education but there are not a lot of options,” he said, 

acknowledging that there is a lot of opportunity for other entrepreneurial parents and teachers to launch small 

schools. 

Further south, the Chattanooga area has some of the newest microschools and related learning models in the state. 

In fall 2022, Rebecca Ellis opened Canyon Creek Christian Academy in Chattanooga with 32 K-6 students. A Charlotte 

Mason-inspired hybrid homeschool program, Canyon Creek learners attend full-time classes three days a week 

focused on core academics and deep nature study, while working through curriculum at home on the remaining two 

days. Today, Canyon Creek Christian Academy has more than 50 learners with five full-time teachers and additional 

part-time instructors. 

The Academy recently leased additional church space next door to continue to accommodate its growing enrollment. 

“We are getting more kids trying to pull out of the public school system,” said Ellis, who says her program’s lowstress, 

child-focused environment is appealing to parents — especially those whose children are growing anxious in 

test-heavy conventional schools. Canyon Creek’s low annual tuition, currently set at $3,750, is also attractive, costing 

significantly less than other local private schools. 

Just a few miles down the road in Chattanooga, 

Discovery Learners’ Academy also opened in fall 2022. 

Founded by Rachel Good, who worked as a public 

school teacher in Washington and Tennessee for 

over eight years, Discovery Learners’ Academy, is a 

state-recognized private school with a personalized 

educational approach that opened with 21 learners and 

today has 50 — about 15 of whom attend part-time as 

homeschoolers. Half of all the school’s students are 

neurodiverse, a population that Good caters to as a 

former special education teacher. Indeed, her inability 

to fully serve special needs students in the conventional 

school system was one of the reasons she left the public 

schools. “I was always trying to advocate for these kids 

and was always hitting a brick wall,” said Good. 

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At $7,000 a year, Discovery Learners’ Academy is about half the cost of most traditional private schools in the area, 

and less than the $10,850 a year that the local Hamilton County public schools spend per student. Even so, tuition is 

still financially out-of-reach for many families, and the school currently doesn’t qualify for the state’s small education 

choice program. “It’s so heartbreaking when a parent asks if they can use their voucher here and I have to say no,” 

said Good, who is supportive of current efforts by Tennessee lawmakers to expand school choice policies. 

The newest microschool I visited in the Volunteer State opened in August in Cleveland, just outside of Chattanooga. 

Triumph Acton Academy is a home-based learning pod for homeschoolers that is part of the fast-growing Acton Academy 

network that includes more than 300 independently-operated, learner-driven microschools, serving thousands of 

students. 

In spring 2023, Alexis and JT Rubatsky listened to a podcast with Acton Academy co-founder, Jeff Sandefer, explaining 

the philosophy of learner-driven education where young people are empowered to pursue their passions while 

mastering core curriculum content. They were hooked, and knew immediately that it was the type of education they 

wanted for their two boys, ages six and 11. “Our kids weren’t thriving in school, and as a teacher, I saw that there was 

so much focus on the tests, on shoving information down their throats,” said Alexis, who quit her job teaching high 

school biology in the local public schools to open Triumph. The year started with five learners, including the Rubatskys’ 

two boys. Half-way through their first year, enrollment has more than doubled to 11 learners and the founders 

know it won’t be long before they outgrow their home-based classroom for a larger space. 

“I would love for there to be lots of options,” said Alexis, who is encouraged by the growth of microschools and related 

models in Tennessee and across the U.S. She is already connecting with local founders like Rachel Good, who is working 

to build community among the entrepreneurial parents and teachers who are creating these new options. Working 

collaboratively, these small schools can have an even greater impact. 

“I want to support these innovative educators,” said Good. “We need to have that variety of options.” 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2023 

JON MILTIMORE 

Why a Student With a 1590 SAT Score Was Rejected by 

16 Colleges 

Stanley Zhong did everything right. A 4.42 weighted GPA (3.98 unweighted). A 1590 SAT score (1600 is perfect). He’d 

even launched his own startup (RabbitSign). 

Yet the 18-year-old Palo Alto-area graduate was stunned when he found himself rejected by 16 of the 18 schools he’d 

applied to, including multiple state schools. 

Zhong’s treatment is an important reminder of the injustice many face when Americans fail 

to see all people as we should: as individuals. 

“Some of the state schools, I really thought, you know, I had a good chance,” Zhong told ABC7 News. “I didn’t get in.” 

Zhong’s story has begun to gather some media attention, which was the subject of discussion at a recent House 

Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing. Yet almost all of the stories failed to mention the likely reason 

Zhong was rejected: He’s Asian. 

For years, colleges have been quietly discriminating against Asians in the admission process, admitting white, black, 

and Latino students with lower SAT scores and lower GPAs in the name of inclusivity. The problem for Asians is that, as 

a group, they tend to score really well. 

This means there’s an abundance of highly qualified Asians applying to universities each year. This would not be 

a problem for Asian students if not for race-conscious universities, which, in recent years, have demonstrated a 

preference for social equity and racial balance over merit. 

As a result, untold numbers of Asians have found themselves excluded from universities simply because of their race. 

Harvard, which was sued in 2013 by Students for Fair Admissions for racial discrimination, is a high-profile 

example. Several years ago, the university released data showing that over an 18-year period (1995–2013), Asian 

American students outscored every other racial peer group, averaging an SAT section score of 767 (max 800). That is 

substantially higher than white people (745), Hispanic people (718), Native Americans (712), and black people (704). 

The high court was right, but we should look beyond the legal problems of affirmative action. 



152 

153



America is built on the idea that all people should be treated equally, but today, we’re divided on the question of 

whether racial discrimination should be used so long as it results in preferred outcomes. The vast majority of people 

(73%) oppose race-based admissions, but it’s a policy supported by many liberals—indeed, demanded. 

Coleman Hughes, a heterodox black thinker and fellow at the Manhattan Institute, recently found his TED talk on color 

blindness, the idea that we shouldn’t judge people by the color of their skin or treat them differently, targeted for censorship 

by social justice fundamentalists. (TED eventually released Hughes’s talk but suppressed the video.) 

Decades ago, the Nobel Prize-winning F.A. Hayek observed the Kafkaesque logic of trying to usher in a more equal 

society by treating people unequally. 

“The classical demand is that the state ought to treat all people equally in spite of the fact that they are very unequal,” 

Hayek said. “You can’t deduce from this that because people are unequal, you ought to treat them unequally in order 

to make them equal. And that’s what social justice amounts to.” 

Systemic racism exists in America today. It just looks a lot different than you’ve been told. Just ask Stanley Zhong. 

Alessandra Nash 

Febr 20, 2024 

Dixie Dillon Lane 

Oct 23, 2023 

FLORIDA MOM HARASSED BY NEW YORK CPS 

https://hslda.org/post/florida-mom-harassed-by-new-york-cps?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2-22-2024&utm_id=HSLDA-Weekly-Update 

WEST MIDLANDS HOME-SCHOOLED PUPIL NUMBERS REACH MORE THAN 11,000 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-68318287 

Fortunately for Zhong, the Palo Alto graduate doesn’t need the universities that rejected him. He landed a job with 

Google. But his father observed that’s “a luxury most kids in his situation won’t have.” 

He’s right. Zhong’s treatment is an important reminder of the injustice many face when Americans fail to see all people 

as we should: as individuals. 



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155



PAMELA CLARK, FOUNDER/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT 

NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP 

GREAT COMPANIES: HOW DID YOU GET YOUR IDEA OR CONCEPT FOR THE BUSINESS? CONCEPT FOR THE BUSINESS? 

Pamela Clark: Originally, I was a home school mom and other moms would come to me for advice. Then after homeschooling 

for about four years, I learned about charter schools. I became a parent leader for a charter school for some time. During 

that time, I helped many families from all school backgrounds. I 

advocated for families to receive a fair education. Once I discovered 

that families needed to cooperate, especially in educating children 

with learning difficulties such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, autism, 

and neurological disorders. When I left the charter school I had a 

meeting with a few moms I had served. One of the first things I told 

them was that I wanted to create a group that helps all families. I 

had served so many families from multiple school backgrounds at 

this time, I didn’t understand the strict lines drawn by those in the 

education system. Everyone pays taxes whether they have children 

in public school, yet there was minimal, or no support offered to the 

homeschoolers asking for access to the art, music, and other programs. 

Charter school students receive help only from the charter 

they belong too, and traditional schools only care about the students 

in their classrooms. I didn’t want to combine them into one 

school but truly believe that everyone willing to work for it deserves a fair and equal education. NHEG wants families to 

reach their dreams and goals. When a family and student reach their full potential, we all benefit as a society. 

GREAT COMPANIES: WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS SERVICES PROVIDED BY NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP? 

Pamela Clark: New Heights Educational Group is the first one-stop-shop in education. 

NHEG has served over 550,000 students via online services and courses via its site and affiliate and partner sites. I lead 

a team of 73 volunteers who research advancements, provide training to teachers and tutors, create courses and tutor 

students. The organization has many internal departments including education, research, graphics, photography, HR, 

social media and marketing, proofreading/editing, authors/writers/script writers, comic book, production management for 

magazine, content builders, internet radio show/podcast, accounting and more. 

NHEG provides fill-in-the-gap tutoring to reach students who have been left behind by traditional schools. It offers classes, 

an educational magazine called the NHEG EDGuide and the E.A.S.YToons comic books that has over 100,540 Views. 

The organization has published two books: Unraveling Reading and Unraveling Science. Both books are part of the Unraveling 

series, which provides strategies to parents, teachers and tutors to help them support children’s learning processes. 

The series will include a book for each subject. One Nonprofit’s Journey to Success, written by an NHEG volunteer, was 

released worldwide in March 2015 and tells the organization’s story. NHEG’s internet radio show, New Heights Show on 

Education, has had over 357,841 listens and is on 29 networks and became a syndicated show in 2019. 

NHEG and its partners/affiliates offer over 1,200 low-cost and high-quality courses on its website, and it makes national 

and international leadership opportunities available to its students. 

In 2020, NHEG grew its reach by over 90,000 people. In 2021, through new partnerships with Stack Social, Skillwise, 

156 

National CSI Camp, Citizen Goods and The Hip Hop Healthy Heart Program for Children and Natural Born Leaders, it has 

more than tripled its previous course offerings with the over 1,280 free and discounted unique courses mentioned above 

and another 284 classroom resources for all subject matters. The in-person reading program switched to an online reading 

program with the help of one of NHEG’s partners (The 2nd & 7 Foundation), and it went from a 2-tier to a 5-tier reading 

program within the last year. 

GREAT COMPANIES: WHAT MAKES NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP DIFFERENT FROM HUNDREDS OF OTHER SIMILAR 

SERVICE PROVIDERS? 

Pamela Clark: NHEG is the only organization that offers a range of educational services and resources under one business. 

We excel at it; we are the best in the world at it. This is proven by the many awards and recognition the organization has 

won since its creation and the many families that have benefited from this dream. 

GREAT COMPANIES: WHAT ARE THE STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES YOU FACE? 

Pamela Clark: Every step of the way there has been struggles and challenges. It is a struggle to reach those in the educational 

system that see us as a threat instead of what the organization can do for the community. Many in power have 

biased thinking and keep us a secret from the families in need of our services. Instead, they send families to for-profit 

businesses that they can’t afford and, in turn, cause more difficulties for these very families; it’s a vicious cycle. 

Funding is our biggest roadblock; everything NHEG has built, all the work it has done is yet to be fully funded. It would cost 

$457,567.00 to fund the first year of the organization’s entire dream. That amount is less than is spent on two school dropouts 

over a lifetime of receiving public assistance, and yet NHEG struggles to receive funding. It is very frustrating. 

Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What do 5 years down the line look like for New Heights Educational 

Group? 

Pamela Clark: NHEG envisions building a computer lab and learning center 

Purpose: The lab and learning center will provide a space for academic research, academic studies, school assignments, 

educational planning, testing and tutoring services and other educational options. The lab can be used by families with 

students enrolled in any type of school or afterschool programs, for homeschool resources and as a teaching space for 

themed co-op/enrichment classes. The facilities will enable NHEG to teach, assist and provide technology resources to 

families for self-learning. 

Genealogy program - NHEG is looking to create a genealogy program with the goal of building students’ self-esteem and 

further connecting them to their community and country. 

NHEG GED Program / Testing Site and implementing a sensory room for those with disabilities and creating a daycare for 

young mothers and fathers. 

Creation of a sensory room in the hopes of reaching students with disabilities/special needs. This is very important for 

those with special needs and can open a new world for these students and their families. 

Support for Teenage Parents 

NHEG works with many teen parents that are struggling with the traditional education settings. Those that have children 

while still in high school or college, can still have a successful life if they have access to a support system. They are encouraged 

and treated with fairness and respect. NHEG recognizes the value of self-esteem and works towards building theirs 

by listening to their dreams and helping them achieve them. The organization provides a support system with affordable 

child-care, fun activities and learning opportunities, promotes student leadership, and teaches them to value themselves, 

so they can continue their educational endeavors. NHEG excels at providing this support that helps them reach their goals 

and this must be done if we want to effect change in society. 

GREAT COMPANIES: IF YOU HAD ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO SOMEONE JUST STARTING OUT, WHAT WOULD IT BE? 

Pamela Clark: Don’t just start a business, start a passion. If starting a charity, find someone in your community doing 

something similar and volunteer for a while. Never think of any job as beneath you; do everything and learn everything, so 

you can mentor others. 

157

GRILLED BLUE MARLIN WITH LEMON-BUTTER SAUCE RECIPE 

Ingredients 

• 150 grams blue marlin 

• rock salt 

• 1 tbsp calamansi juice 

• 1 tsp garlic salt 

• 1 tbsp seasoning 

• dash paprika 

• 1 tbsp melted butter 

• 1 tsp chopped garlic, fried 

• Lemon Butter sauce:e N 

• lemon 

• butter 

• salt 

• parsley 

Directions 

1. Wash and clean fish with rock salt. Rinse and set aside. 

2. Mix together calamansi juice, garlic salt, seasoning, paprika and butter. 

3. Marinate blue marlin in mixture for few minutes, turning both sides from time to time. 

4. Over hot charcoal, grill the fish 15 minutes or until done on both sides. 

5. Baste blue marlin with marinade all over while cooking. 

6. remove from heat and serve with lemon and butter sauce. Sprinkle with fried garlic for the finale then serve. 

159

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU - SCHNITZEL STYLE RECIPE 

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup olive oil 

• 1 1/4 pounds thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breast (think cutlets - chicken 

tenders are too skinny for this) 

• 5 ounces sliced ham 

• 4 ounces sliced Swiss cheese 

• 2 large eggs, beaten 

• 1 to 2 cups Japanese style bread crumbs (like Panko) 

• Lemon wedges (optional) 

MEXICAN CHOCOFLAN RECIPE 

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup ( 5.4 oz./154 grams) cajeta 

• 2 large eggs, cool room temperature 

• 6 oz. (180 ml.) evaporated milk 

• 6 oz. (180 ml.) sweetened condensed milk 

• 1 tablespoon Kahlua 

• 1 3/4 cups (7 oz./200 grams) all purpose flour 

• 1 cup (7 oz./200 grams) sugar 

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 

• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

• 1/2 cup (4 oz/114 grams) butter at cool room temperature 

• 9 fluid oz. (260 ml.) buttermilk (or plain yogurt 

thinned with milk) 

• 1 egg 

• 3 tablespoon Kahlua 

• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (1.2 oz./33 grams) cocoa powder 

(not Dutch processed) 

Directions 

Directions 

1. Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in large flat skillet over medium heat. Place beaten eggs and bread crumbs in separate wide 

flat bowls and set aside. 

2. Select and pair up the chicken breast cutlets equal in size; you’ll need 2 to make each schnitzel “sandwich” and 

depending on size, each sandwich will serve 2 people generously - four for the whole recipe. 

3. Place between wax paper (I recycle my cereal and cracker liner bags for this because they are so durable and will 

stand up to the pounding - see photos); using mallet pound to thin each to a thickness of 1/4”. 

4. Place a slice of ham on one of the thinned chicken cutlets and on top of that a slice of Swiss cheese; trim the ham 

and cheese to fit the chicken cutlet shape. Top with the matching thinned chicken cutlet to form the sandwich. 

At this point you may need to cut the sandwich in half to serving size, so it is easier to handle, coat and cook. 

5. Holding each sandwich firmly, dip it into beaten eggs coating one side completely; then carefully turn it over and 

dip the second side in eggs, allowing excess egg to drip away. 

6. In like manner coat both sides with bread crumbs. 

7. Place into heated oil in pan and fry til golden brown on both sides, adding the additional 1/4 cup oil as needed. 

8. Serve with lemon wedges (optional). 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. (180 C.). Butter a tube cake pan (8â³ across and 4â³ high/200 mm. x 100 mm.) and spread 

cajeta on bottom of pan. 

2. Heat a small sauce pan of water for hot water bath to pour into a pan larger than cake pan. 

3. Prepare flan mixture by blending eggs, evaporated milk, condensed milk and Kahlua. Set aside. 

4. In standing mixer (or use a hand-held electric mixer), mix butter and sugar for 2 minutes on medium-high speed. 

Scrape down sides of bowl, and add egg and Kahlua. Beat for 30 seconds. 

5. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Add half of dry ingredients, alternating with half of 

buttermilk, until all is incorporated into butter mixure. Beat for 1 minute on medium-high speed. 

6. Spoon batter into cake pan over cajeta, and level with a spatula. 

7. Pour flan mixture over cake batter, pouring over a spoon to gentle the pressure (see photo below). 

8. Set cake pan in a larger pan, and place on oven rack. Add boiling water to large pan to a depth of 1â³. 

9. Bake 50 minutes, or until cake tests dry with a wooden toothpick. (Cake will pull away from sides of pan after it is 

removed from oven.) 

10. Remove from water bath and cool on a rack to room temperature. Refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve, run 

a thin knife around inside of pan sides and invert onto cake plate. If any cajeta sticks to the pan, spread onto the 

cake. 

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TEXAS CHUCK WAGON PINTO BEANS (GLUTEN FREE) RECIPE 

Ingredients 

• 2 - 28oz cans of pinto beans, rinsed well 

• 1 - 15oz can of pinto beans, rinsed well 

• 1 large green Bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely 

diced 

• 1 large Spanish onion, finely diced 

• 6 large cloves of garlic, finely minced 

• 1 c sorghum molasses 

• 1/2 c dark brown sugar 

• 1/2 lb apple- or hickory-smoked bacon, finely diced 

(TIP: freeze your bacon - it makes even and fast 

dicing a breeze) 

• 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, well minced (you 

can use less, to your taste - but it should have 

some body!) 

• 1/3 c Jack Daniels bourbon 

• 1/2 tsp ground allspice 

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 

• 1/8 tsp mesquite liquid smoke 

Directions 

1. In a deep, heavy pot, render the minced bacon, cooking until firm. Drain the fat, reserve the cooked bacon 

2. Sweat the onion, bell pepper and garlic until translucent and soft 

3. Add the Jack Daniels and reduce by half (that will cook off the alcohol, but give you a great woody flavor) 

4. Add the brown sugar, molasses, allspice, chipotle in adobo, cayenne and cooked bacon and combine well 

5. Add the liquid smoke and then the rinsed pinto beans 

6. Stir it all together, bring to a boil and reduce immediately to a slow simmer. Cook on med-low for at least 

one hour, giving it a stir once in a while. Longer slow cooking improves the dish. 

7. The end result should be a dark, creamy dish in which the components are difficult to single out. 

CREOLE RICE PUDDING (GLUTEN FREE) RECIPE 

Ingredients 

• 3 C day-old rice (or one cup of uncooked rice - OK, so 

you finished the Chinese... just be sure the fresh rice is 

COLD... (the ‘from scratch’ is in the (parentheses) following) 

• 1 C whipping cream ( or 3 C milk + 1 C whipping cream) 

• 1 stick sweet butter 

• 3/4 C granulated sugar 

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 

• 1/2 C black raisins 

• 3 whole eggs, beaten 

• 6 egg yolks, beaten 

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg 

Directions 

1. Set the oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Butter a 2 qt casserole dish 

3. Bring the day-old rice and the cream to a boil (or bring the uncooked rice, milk and cream to a boil) 

4. Cook until the cream is absorbed (or cover and cook until most of the milk and cream is absorbed and the rice is 

tender) 

5. Add all the other ingredients except the egg yolks and whole eggs 

6. Temper the eggs by stirring some of the rice mixture into the eggs and stir - you do not want to cook the eggs - then 

pour the egg mixture into the rice and stir to incorporate all ingredients 

7. Pour the mixture into the casserole and bake for 30 minutes. You want to give it a stir to distribute and suspend 

the raisins throughout the pudding as they will have settled to the bottom of the cassarole. You want it browned 

on top, but check now to see if you need to lay a sheet of foil on top so it doesn’t get too brown. You need to have 

the pudding dry in the middle - add 15 minutes 

8. You can serve it cold from the refigerator, or warmed from the oven 

https://cookeatshare.com 

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