Matthew Ladner

Matthew Ladner is executive editor of Next Steps. He has written numerous studies on school choice, charter schools and special education reform, and his articles have appeared in Education Next; the Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice; and the British Journal of Political Science. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and received a master's degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Houston. He lives in Phoenix with his wife and three children.

12/05/23 | Matthew Ladner

Paging Special Agent Johnny Utah to investigate Utah mystery

“Point Break” follows the adventures of newly minted FBI Special Agent Johnny Utah as he unravels the mystery of a group of Los Angeles bank robbers known as “the Ex-Presidents.”...

11/28/23 | Matthew Ladner

Every waitlist is a policy failure

Harvard professor Roland Fryer took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal recently to urge lawmakers and advocates to reinvigorate the drive to Milton Friedman’s vision of a dynamic...

11/21/23 | Matthew Ladner

The Nation’s Charter Report Card Demonstrates a Broader Need to Update School Quality Thinking

Paul E. Peterson and M. Danish Shakeel recently published a ranking of state charter school sectors based upon their NAEP 4th and 8th grade proficiency rates between 2009 and 2019....

11/14/23 | Matthew Ladner

‘Game Changers’ in K-12 choice

Perun, the rock star of Australian defense economists doing awesome hour-plus hour PowerPoint presentations on YouTube, recently did two such presentations on “game-changing” weapon systems in the ongoing Ukraine-Russian war....

11/07/23 | Matthew Ladner

Go down, Moses Way down in Egypt’s land Tell old Pharaoh Let my people go The Texas House of Representatives closed out the 3rd special session by filing a deeply...

10/31/23 | Matthew Ladner

Building a bridge to the 21st century nowhere

In 2005, the Alaskan Congressional delegation created a national controversy when they attempted to secure $398,000,000 to build a bridge to an island with 50 inhabitants. Known as “the...

10/24/23 | Matthew Ladner

Clickbait versus innovative therapy

Last week, I watched a panel hosted by Harvard University on “Emerging School Models: Moving from Alternative to Mainstream.” During the discussion, John Kirtley of Step Up For Students noted...

10/17/23 | Matthew Ladner

Strainolypse Now

Back in 2015, I authored a study sounding the alarm regarding America’s changing age demography and how it would soon challenge K-12 education called Turn and Face the Strain....

10/11/23 | Matthew Ladner

The muse at night burns big and bright deep in the heart of Texas

Danged ol’ Texas special session! BOOM man! Tell you what! I need a danged ol’ Muse of Fire to tell you about it, man! The danged ol’ Lone...

10/03/23 | Matthew Ladner

We should view European K-12 pluralism as a floor rather than a ceiling

As late as the early 1990s, many Americans thought of going to see European films as desirably highbrow. European movies commanded 10% of the American box office. The problem...

09/26/23 | Matthew Ladner

Bring out yer dead — Florida edition!

So last week I related the incredibly weak evidence for the “death” of district schooling in Arizona. That evidence shows flat to gently sloping enrollment district enrollment, all-time highs for...

09/22/23 | Matthew Ladner

Bring Out Yer Dead!

Recently I had the opportunity to see a presentation by Alan Macguire. Macquire is an honored veteran to Arizona policy, having helped usher in both the state’s equalized funding formula...

09/19/23 | Matthew Ladner

Florida Islamic and Jewish leaders team up for education pluralism

Rabbi Moshe Matz, the executive director of Agudath Israel’s Florida office and rabbi of the Aventura Shul in Aventura teamed with Sr. Magda Elkadi Saleh is Head of School at Bayaan...

09/12/23 | Matthew Ladner

The school choice movement needs Eddie Van Halen level mad scientists

Edward Van Halen gave a fascinating interview at the Smithsonian Institution a few years before his death in a program, “What It Means to be an American.” Van Halen’s parents...

09/05/23 | Matthew Ladner

Melon-scoop America

America’s founders (wisely) set up a federal system in part to defend liberty. Federalism allows Americans to select a state whose policies fit their policy preferences; it’s much more difficult...

08/29/23 | Matthew Ladner

Tiffany is armed to look to her own defense

In 410, after years of enough backstabbing, civil wars and barbarian invasions to make a Games of Thrones scriptwriter blush, the Saxons invaded the Roman province of Britannia. The Roman...

08/22/23 | Matthew Ladner

Apocalypse Not: K-12 choice and rural Texas education

Jason Bedrick and I co-authored a new study for the Heritage Foundation last week in which we test an assertion made by Texas choice opponents: choice will destroy rural...

08/15/23 | Matthew Ladner

The federalism path to education freedom

The Teach Coalition Office of Jewish Education Policy and Research released a study last week on enrollment in New York Jewish Day Schools. Enrollment growth has slowed, and after exploring...

08/08/23 | Matthew Ladner

Change is difficult, but stasis is deadly

Five member universities departed the Pacific-12 Conference last week, following the leads of three others. Despite boasting more NCAA national championships than any other league, the “Conference of Champions” as...

07/31/23 | Matthew Ladner

Arizona governor touts misleading narrative on Empowerment Scholarship Program

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs released a memo to claim that Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account represents “increased costs to taxpayers.” The memo claimed: “New estimates indicate the ESA voucher program may...