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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Each year, the Maryland General Assembly considers over 2,500 bills during its 90-day session. Because of this volume and due to limited time, it is difficult adequately to address each bill proposed. It would help if there were fewer bills, if certain categories of bill were simply ignored or ruled “off limits” or were dealt […]
From time to time, the Calvert Institute will be interviewing the major contenders in the 1998 gubernatorial race. In this issue, we have a conversation with Eileen Rehrmann, county executive for Harford County, who is challenging incumbent Governor Parris Glendening in the Democratic primary. Calvert Question. What has moved you to challenge Governor Glendening in […]