How Parents Can Support Special Education at Home
Introduction Supporting your child’s special education at home is one of the most powerful ways to improve their progress, confidence, and independence. While schools provide structured support, your home environment can reinforce learning, build critical life skills, and create a consistent path toward success. If you are a parent navigating special education, here’s a clear, […]
Why Politics Shapes Our Classrooms More Than We Realize
Politics in education affects your child’s classroom every day. When most people think about school, they think about textbooks, teachers, and test scores. But a hidden driver shapes your child’s learning: politics. From curriculum choices to funding decisions, debates in local school boards and state legislatures directly impact what happens in K-12 schools. I spent […]
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The cost of education is about to go up in the lone star state
Lonnie Palmer is a former math and science teacher, school principal, assistant superintendent for secondary instruction, school superintendent. The cost of education is about to go up in Texas by Lonnie PalmerEducator and author of The Politics of Education K-12 (April 21, 2025) – Three things will result from the school voucher system on tap […]
Push for school district boundaries shares same impetus as charter schools – segregation
An excerpt from The Politics of Education K-12, available on Amazon by Lonnie Palmer There is one thing stopping us from combining resources in schools that nobody talks about because we like to think we’ve moved beyond it — segregation. The cost benefit of combining school resources resurfaced in a recent newspaper article and readers […]
Secrecy killed the Common Core
An excerpt from The Politics of Education K-12, available on Amazon. by Lonnie Palmer One of the many things that contributed to the turmoil during the initial rollout of the Common Core-based testing was the secrecy. Teachers were unable to review even sample tests, which contributed to teacher, student and parent fears. What exactly are […]
The well-funded but debilitating barnacle on public schools
An excerpt from The Politics of Education K-12 by Lonnie Palmer Soon after becoming a teacher in 1970, I remember reading that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the famous Democrat and depression era and WWII president, did not believe in public union negotiations for salary and benefits.[i] This confused me. Weren’t the Democrats supporters of unions? Didn’t […]
Public School Unions: How They Impact School Budgets and Students
An excerpt from The Politics of Education K-12 by Lonnie Palmer Why FDR Opposed Public Union Negotiations When I started teaching in 1970, I learned that Franklin D. Roosevelt did not support public union negotiations for salaries and benefits. This was surprising to me because FDR supported private unions and helped create the National Labor […]
Does Special Education Spending Improve Outcomes?
Education like health care in the U.S. is significantly overpriced on a per pupil and per patient basis compared to comparable countries in the developed world. And test results for U.S. students and health outcomes for U.S. patients (life expectancy has gone down in the U.S.) are significantly worse than similar results for comparable countries around […]
Special Education Results: Why Spending More Isn’t Improving Student Success
Education like health care in the U.S. is significantly overpriced on a per pupil and per patient basis compared to comparable countries in the developed world. And test results for U.S. students and health outcomes for U.S. patients (life expectancy has gone down in the U.S.) are significantly worse than similar results for comparable countries around […]