ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthew Ladner
My background story
What I did before joining Step Up For Students
What do I do on my day off?
How to reach out?
09/09/25 | Matthew Ladner
Everything counts in large amounts
The EdChoice blog recently delivered some good news, specifically that the number of students using private choice programs increased by 25% last year. In fact, if you cobble together some...
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09/02/25 | Matthew Ladner
Florida invites Success Academy to come on down and scale up
During a 1916 football game between Georgia Tech and Cumberland, Georgia Tech coach John Heisman famously urged his players on to victory- “You’re doing all right, team, we’re ahead. But...
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08/26/25 | Matthew Ladner
Who is busting what budget exactly?
Choice opponents have been known to throw contradictory arguments out against private choice programs. One moment they will claim that the majority of kids using universal choice programs were already...
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08/22/25 | Matthew Ladner
The Washington Post was sold an Arizona school choice story
Arizonans have a pet peeve involving people from “back East” who judge us before they understand us. The Washington Post jumped into this with both feet by publishing a story...
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08/05/25 | Matthew Ladner
Adventures in babysitting
Recently, someone representing a state official responded to an Arizona media outlet inquiry about the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program and referred to “tutoring and babysitting.” Consequently, Arizona’s school district industrial...
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07/29/25 | Matthew Ladner
Against the divine right of (philosopher) kings
**SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 8** Western cultures, for some strange reason, involve rituals where we pretend that various “fairy creatures” exist, particularly...
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07/22/25 | Matthew Ladner
Here we are now, going to the supply side
Last week, I had the opportunity to make a presentation about how lawmakers can support teachers who want to start their own schools. The four key features: Universal eligibility: Everyone...
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07/16/25 | Matthew Ladner
Krewe throwing beads ~= states giving schools “A” grades, but all is not lost
Last week, the Heritage Foundation released a study from yours-truly called From Mass Deception to Meaningful Accountability: A Brighter Future for K–12 Education. The basic argument: the good intentions of...
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07/08/25 | Matthew Ladner
Education reform has 99 problems…
A recent interview by Tyler Cowen of John Arnold has been making the rounds in ed reform circles, see Michael Goldstein’s write up here. Here is a taste of the...
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06/24/25 | Matthew Ladner
Technocrats wear a political dunce crown
David Osborne recently predicted academic doom for red states having recently passed universal private choice programs. “This will accelerate the process of the rich getting richer while the poor fall...
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06/17/25 | Matthew Ladner
Imagine if the District of Columbia Public Schools gave peace a chance in special education
“War, huh, yeah What is it good for? Absolutely nothing” — Edwinn Starr, “War” The District of Columbia Public School system has a troubled history with special education. In reviewing...
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06/10/25 | Matthew Ladner
New Schools, facilities and the rise of the microschool
EdChoice has an interesting survey question comparing what sort of school parents would prefer (district, charter, private or home) and comparing the results to actual enrollment patterns. In...
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06/03/25 | Matthew Ladner
We don’t need no Klanducation; We don’t need no thought control
June 1, 2025, marked the 100th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Pierce v. Society of Sisters– effectively the first victory of America’s school choice movement. In...
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05/27/25 | Matthew Ladner
Thumbs up for Roosevelt students
Jason Bedrick and I published a piece at the Daily Signal about the Roosevelt Elementary School District in South Phoenix. The Roosevelt district has experienced enrollment loss for decades, and...
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05/20/25 | Matthew Ladner
Get thee behind me, Bootlegger!
Longtime NextSteps readers know that your humble author has been holding forth on the Baptist and Bootlegger problem that helped throttle the growth of the charter school movement. The term...
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05/13/25 | Matthew Ladner
Teachers give anti-ESA propaganda a failing grade
Opponents of education freedom, facing a series of legislative defeats, have responded by going off the deep end with conspiracy theories and crackpot fables. The formula works something like this:...
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05/06/25 | Matthew Ladner
Oklahoma should avoid the example of Vercingetorix
Julius Caesar led Roman forces to victory in the decisive battle of the conquest of Gaul at Alesia. Having pursued the Gauls to a fortified city, Caesar first surrounded...
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04/29/25 | Matthew Ladner
Arizona districts should lower the velvet rope for students with disabilities
Tim DeRoche featured the tale of an Arizona boy named Brayden in a Time Magazine piece on the shortcomings of open enrollment practice and law for students with disabilities: “In...
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04/22/25 | Matthew Ladner
The inevitable is always certain but not always punctual: self-driving school carpools
Back in 2017, techno-optimist Jason Bedrick made the skeptical Robert Pondiscio a bet on the adoption rate for self-driving cars in the Phoenix area: “Robert and I are putting our...
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