Pegasus Institute

Since first introduced in 1997 by preeminent gun researcher John Lott and Professor David Mustard, the idea “more guns, less crime” has caused a great deal of academic debate. The research falls primarily into two camps, those who believe that increases in privately carried handguns decrease murder rates and violent crime, and those who believe there is no relationship or insufficient data to draw and conclusion between the number of firearms carried and violent crime or homicide rates. Kentucky is again considering if it should move to a permit-less carry model, and with violent crime and homicide up across the state, it’s important to look at what, if any, impact a move like this could ha

Former Maryland Superintendent and education consultant David W. Hornbeck has an op-ed in the Courier-Journal and Herald-Leader on how, as a former supporter of charter schools, he’s learned the errors of his way. It’s a reprint of a piece he ran two years ago in the Baltimore Sun. While I won’t respond in full to his argument, the debate over urban charters for example, is settled, one portion of his piece does require a rebuttal. Hornbeck asserts that; "Charter advocates say “strong” charter laws are required. Pennsylvania’s law is one that is characterized as strong. Yet, its charter growth is contributing significantly to a funding crisis that includes draconian cuts to teachers, nurses,

The state of Kentucky touts its high school graduation rates as signs of the successes of its public schools. In fact, in the most recent rankings of all fifty states done by US News, Kentucky is ranked 9th in graduation rate. A high graduation rate is hardly an accurate gauge of a schools’ performance. Simply put, Kentucky’s inflated graduation rate means very little when several other important metrics drag far behind. Starting in 2012, Kentucky added a college and career readiness measure to their Unbridled Learning accountability system. The Kentucky Department of Education has set forth a “variety of indicators” to determine graduates readiness. A 2013 report by Achieve credited Kentuck

To the dismay of some members of the Jefferson County Public School board, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has voiced his support for bringing charter schools to Louisville. An amended version of HB520 would even allow the mayor’s office to serve as an authorizer. Both moves prompted one school board member to call Mayor Fischer’s position “a betrayal of JCPS and the 101,000 students that are part of the district.” There is at least one glaring problem with this rhetoric. The data is clear, urban charter schools work. In 2015, the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University, released a detailed Urban Charter School Study which analyzed 41 urban areas in 22 states.