Reforming The Schools To Save the City, Part II

About the Author Douglas P. Munro, Ph.D. Doug Munro was born in in England in February 1964. Two years later, the Munros moved to the Mediterranean island of Malta, engaging in the tourism business until 1977. The family moved back to the U.K. that year, to central Scotland. Munro received his undergraduate degree in history […]

The Dissent: How the Townsend Report Fails to Address the Roots of Juvenile Crime and What to Do About It

About the Authors Robert M. McCarthy, J.D. Robert M. McCarthy is the named principal of a general-practice law firm located in Bethesda, Maryland. His particular concentration is in juvenile cases; he has handled approximately 5,000 such cases in the last 15 years. Previously, he was a contract attorney with the Maryland state Public Defender’s Office […]

Reforming The Schools To Save the City, Part 1

About the Authors Denis P. Doyle Denis Philip Doyle, founder of Doyle Associates, is a nationally and internationally known education writer, analyst and consultant. Doyle has recently developed a comprehensive book and compact disc (CD) titled, Raising the Standard: An Eight-Step Action Guide for Schools and Communities, which will be available in October 1997. After […]

A Matter of Law: Is Rehrmann’s Property-Tax Ploy Illegal?

It is a rare day indeed when this journal opposes a tax cut, a rarer one still when it actually suggests an increase. But Harford County Executive Eileen Rehrmann’s proposal to do away with the state property tax prompts this response. It is, of course, entirely natural for gubernatorially aspiring politicians to dream up election-year […]

Precedents and Pitfalls: How to Create a Successful School Choice Program

School choice – which gives parents control over where the public dollars earmarked for their children’s education will be spent – is the most promising education reform in the United States today. Among reform proposals, it alone transfers power over basic education decisions from bureaucrats to parents, providing poor children in the worst school systems […]

To Staunch a Wound: How Parental Choice Would Save Baltimore City

A number of weeks ago, the Calvert Institute released the first of its new Calvert Issue Brief (CIB) series. These in-depth studies of the concerns of the day are available to all institute donors upon request. We realize, however, that time is limited for many readers. Therefore, space permitting, the institute shall in future also […]

The Menendez Menace: A Review of Wilson\’s Moral Judgment

For years, social scientists have been trying to expand their influence from beyond the small university departments where they are holed up to the real world where serious work is being done. To some degree, they have been successful. In the world of business, for example, diversity counselors with Ph.D.s now advise CEOs on how […]

Consumerism in Health Care: State Report Shows Promise, More Must Follow

In October, the state government released a new and important resource for bewildered health-care consumers. The Maryland health maintenance organization (HMO) report card, developed by the Maryland Health Care Access and Cost Commission (HCACC), is a critical step in consumer education and the development of the market for health-care services.1 While the report card is […]

When Our Fiscal Hands Are Tied: How Maryland Lost Control of Half Its Budget

Great demands are placed on lawmakers each year to spend taxpayers’ money. The causes are usually noble, well intentioned and passionately argued. As a lawmaker, I know first-hand how painful it is to say no when someone looks you in the eye and pleads for your help. Our human nature makes refusal a difficult choice […]

Things That Ain’t So: A Response to Dworkin’s Review of Murray

Will Rogers is supposed to have said, “The trouble with most folks isn’t their ignorance, but that they know so many things that ain’t so.” Ron Dworkin’s disapproving review of Charles Murray’s What it Means to Be a Libertarian, published in the spring 1997 issue of Calvert News, is based on some ideas about economics […]