From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review — Originally published Monday, Feb. 9

Given the troubling history of poor public education policy, $143 billion tagged for education in House Democrats’ $819 billion stimulus package belies reason. It will stimulate neither the economy nor education.

Spending wildly never has.

Included in the package is $79 billion in state “relief,” supposedly to prevent education cuts … and $2 billion for Head Start, the sacred cow of educrats that more than $6 billion later still hasn’t lived up to its promise. And that’s from the government’s own study.

… School districts, as well, should consider carefully what’s contained in this latest federal Trojan horse — more rules and regulations that transfer authority from districts and states to Washington.

Yet not one cent is allocated to school choice programs, despite their proven value both in student learning and public savings. …

School choice and competition are the keys. Unbridled spending is a primer for economic and education stagnation.