Benjamin C Helton

Father. Music teacher educator. Outlier. Education researcher. “Weird Al” expert. Opinions my own, especially the awesome ones.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

Bewared the obvious rhetorical shifts used by #SchoolChoice advocates.

They know their policies worsen student outcomes, especially among vulnerable students, and sap funds from public school students. It's why they're rushing to get policies like the "Backpack Bill" passed.

[Columbus Dispatch @DispatchAlerts]

Researcher: Ohio, don't fall for bait, switch. Vouchers 'thinly veiled tax break' for rich https://t.co/Z3xlIRPezO

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@clevelanddotcom May he be forgettable and not embarrass the state.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@nerdist Please let it be something with PlasticMan!

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

As much as I like Ezra as a journalist, he’d be pretty insufferable at a party.

[Ezra Klein @ezraklein]

Doesn't seem great.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@LPNational Now if we can only get more people to return their damn shopping carts to the cart corrals in parking lots…

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@NealMcCluskey I love how you’ve changed your rhetoric to being about qualitative “freedom” because you know how bad the quantitative test data are when your preferred policies are enacted.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@NealMcCluskey If recent history is a predictor, I’d say not wanting that money to line the pockets of shady charter school companies, private school grifters, and rich parents who already send their kids to private schools instead of something helpful for most Texans constitutes a fine excuse.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

The whole point of “America” is for “We the People” to criticize our leaders and hold them accountable, not worship the government.

Maybe @therabbithole should avoid education and US History discourse and stick to what it does best: thinly-veiled eugenics arguments.

[The Rabbit Hole @TheRabbitHole]

Younger Americans are less likely to think of the Founders as heroes relative to older generations.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@VladPlane @RightWingCope Can’t be certain per Poe’s Law:

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

Ha. Nope! Actually dig into those studies and you find the opposite.

This is why they make charts like this. Most studies show, at best, mixed results.

See this thread a made a while ago about what the studies actually say:

https://t.co/hXRysywrF5

[Nathaniel D. Cunneen @nathancunneen]

Empirical evidence overwhelmingly shows that school choice works. Do the research!

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@washingtonpost So this is actually a thing…

Sorry for not believing her, but ‘member when Mace spray painted her front porch and tried to blame “Antifa?”

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@OhioPEP Because that worked sooooo well in New Orleans…

@ohiogop governs like the dude from Memento.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@OhioSenateGOP I’m so happy they made such a big deal about the statehouse’s first gender neutral bathroom!

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@wil_da_beast630 What separates human brains from other animals’ brains is the frontal lobe, that inhibits basal instincts.

So humans have the capability to alter behaviors “determined” by biology.

In other words, you’re only correct if humans’ neuroanatomy was as complex as a chimpanzee’s.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@philipletsou @berniemoreno @TulsiGabbard As an Ohioan, I am fully prepared to be embarrassed by @berniemoreno for at least the next 6 years.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@rooster_ohio “No income tax” states still get your money, usually through consumption taxes and/or fees, tolls, utility surcharges, etc.

The reason for this shift is ALWAYS to let rich people pay less taxes than everybody else. My taxes will go up so Dave Chappelle keeps more passive income.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

Good.

For all their hand-wringing and pearl clutching about “test scores,” it’s always funny to me when conservatives also say the one thing missing in the curriculum - what needs to happen next to address the biggest problems in education - is Jesus.

[Columbus Dispatch @DispatchAlerts]

The Worthington Schools board rescinded its policy for religious release programs like LifeWise, which teaches the Bible to students during the day. https://t.co/mECq51CAm3

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@troymc94 @VouchersHurtUs Given the amount of rampant fraud in voucher programs that wastes $100s of millions of Ohioans’ tax dollars every year, it would be interesting to see if these schools even remember what they put on their applications.

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@troymc94 @VouchersHurtUs Applications just say what they’ll do if they receive money (future tense). Not how the money was spent (past tense).

I’m starting to see why you think the data show positive outcomes for school choice policy…

[Benjamin C Helton @BenC137Helton]

@wil_da_beast630 Anti-left contrarian who purposely misinterprets basic sociology to pander to idiots..

[Josh Cowen @joshcowenMI]

Voucher results in one tweet:

After early mixed outcomes, vouchers grew in several states.

Most users were already in private school, but those who did switch suffered horrific outcomes.

Subprime schools flooded the market, better schools rejected or pushed out new students.