Doug Tuthill, Author at NextSteps: Step Up For Students

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Doug Tuthill

My background story

What I did before joining Step Up For Students

What do I do on my day off?

How to reach out?

11/06/24 | Doug Tuthill

Trust but verify is key to scaling parental empowerment and customized instruction in public education

For the past 175 years, U.S. public education has been a government monopoly utilizing a one-size-fits-all approach to educating students. Educators know each student is unique, and many are poorly...

09/16/24 | Doug Tuthill

Social engineering, ESAs, and the public education market

Governments engage in social engineering when they create policies and programs to influence (i.e., govern) their citizens’ behavior. All governing, including public education, is an act of social engineering. How...

09/11/24 | Doug Tuthill

Public education is transitioning from its second to third paradigm

Public education is in the early stages of transitioning from its second to third paradigm. In his 1962 book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn described an organization’s paradigm...

09/04/24 | Doug Tuthill

Education choice helps improve our civic culture

Education choice critics often assert that allowing families to choose the best learning environments for their children undermines our civic culture. They say our democracy is strengthened when children...

08/28/24 | Doug Tuthill

Tribal politics, education choice, and the Constitution

As our country was being formed, states such as Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Virginia adopted state religions that citizens were taxed to fund and expected...

08/23/24 | Doug Tuthill

Legendary ed choice advocate Jack Coons celebrates a milestone

Editor’s note: Our friend, John E.Coons, has been a regular contributor over the years to Step Up For Students policy blogs. Shortly after the 2021 release of his latest book,...

08/19/24 | Doug Tuthill

From school districts to education districts

The expanding number of states making flexible spending accounts (ESAs) accessible to their public education students is accelerating the transition from school choice to education choice as families spend their...

07/17/24 | Doug Tuthill

Polly Williams’ and Milton Friedman’s approaches to education choice are merging

Milton Friedman first proposed giving families control of their children’s public education dollars in his 1955 essay “The Role of Government in Education.” Friedman argued that the best way to...

07/11/24 | Doug Tuthill

Low-income students benefit when states give all students access to ESAs

In the spring of 2023, the Florida Legislature and governor made ESAs accessible to all K-12 students. (Accessible means the state government provided funding for the number of students it...

04/22/24 | Doug Tuthill

Education Choice and Learning by Doing

After we finished recording an interview about homeschool families using state funds to pay for educational activities at Florida theme parks, a TV reporter told me her most interesting day...

04/15/24 | Doug Tuthill

U.S. public education became more diverse and inclusive in 1925

The Ku Klux Klan helped pass an amendment to the Oregon constitution in 1922 requiring that all students attend Protestant-controlled schools operated by local governments. The primary target of this...

02/06/24 | Doug Tuthill

The transition to the third era of US public education has begun

U.S. public education has had three primary eras. The first era reflected the needs of a sparsely populated rural agrarian society. Most children were homeschooled and literacy focused primarily on...

03/20/23 | Doug Tuthill

podcastED: Step Up For Students President Doug Tuthill talks with New Hampshire education choice pioneer Kate Baker Demers

On this episode, Tuthill interviews Demers, who started the Children’s Scholarship Fund in New Hampshire, and has worked tirelessly as its executive director for the establishment of a tax credit...

06/21/22 | Doug Tuthill

SUFS president Doug Tuthill on new DeVos book, how the former education secretary exhibits grace under pressure

Former US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released a new book today called Hostages No More: The Fight for Education Freedom and the Future of the American Child. I’ve read...

01/27/22 | Doug Tuthill

National teacher union leader wants to have a different conversation. Me too.

Editor’s note: This commentary from Step Up For Students president Doug Tuthill explores why education choice advocates are working hard to improve public education. The education news site, The 74,...

11/10/21 | Doug Tuthill

Word for word: SUFS president on expansion of education choice in Florida

Editor’s note: Step Up For Students president Doug Tuthill appeared last week before the Florida House of Representatives’ Pre-K – 12 Education Appropriations Subcommittee to answer questions about how state...

04/26/21 | Doug Tuthill

Florida Legislature is normalizing, expanding access to education choice

The Florida House and Senate have sent Gov. Ron DeSantis legislation that will continue normalizing and expanding access to choice in public education. Florida began expanding access to education choice...

03/02/21 | Doug Tuthill

Florida Legislature heads into historic session

The 175-year-old Florida Legislature, which turns 176 on May 26, reconvenes today for its annual 60-day legislative session. The largest global pandemic since 1918 has played havoc with the state’s...

02/17/21 | Doug Tuthill

Further evidence that Florida’s lower-income students will benefit from access to ESAs

There are many important policy improvements in Florida Senate Bill 48, the innovative education choice legislation sponsored by Sen. Manny Diaz Jr. that is receiving so much national attention. But...

01/25/21 | Doug Tuthill

Much to celebrate in Florida as school choice is recognized nationwide

National School Choice Week kicked off Sunday and will continue through this Saturday. This year’s celebration is especially meaningful for Step Up For Students given it coincides with our 20th...