Stories
Occupational licensing reform is a key to economic abundance in states
It’s getting a lot easier for individuals and entrepreneurs in states across the country to get to work, start businesses, and grow their state’s economy. Strategic efforts led by groups like the Knee Regulatory Research Center, Goldwater Institute, and Buckeye Institute, all grantees of Stand Together Trust, have led to reform and elimination of overly […]
January 8, 2024
What innovation in education is teaching us about the future of education
The United States has entered a new era of education. For many students, a typical school day no longer involves boarding a yellow bus, sitting at a desk, and completing homework. Instead, students learn in non-traditional settings like neighbors’ homes or at skate parks and from instructors who aren’t certified teachers but are more than […]
December 4, 2023
Idaho, Ohio, and Virginia are cutting red tape and paving the way to economic abundance
Most Americans aren’t up to date on their state’s regulations and how they might affect them. It’s not their fault, either. Anyone who has tried reading their state’s regulations often finds long documents with cumbersome language that can be difficult for a layperson to understand. Furthermore, a vast majority of states have an immense number […]
December 1, 2023
Holidays & Hot Topics: A Guide for Tackling Tough Topics with Family and Friends
There are some things we look forward to year over year during the holiday season — like good food, time with friends and family, and festive décor. There are also things most of us dread — like conversations about divisive issues that threaten to spoil otherwise enjoyable times with loved ones. Current events and our […]
November 22, 2023
School choice helped these students defy the statistics
When Cheryl Kirk’s twins were nearing high school, she had some tough decisions to make. Wanting to give her children the best education, Cheryl researched the academic performance data of the schools in Indiana where she lived. What she found was not encouraging — the schools in the neighborhood where she could afford to live […]
November 3, 2023
Rising health care reformer charts a path for young professionals and policy reforms
America needs health care innovation and principled policy reform more than ever. Rising costs, sicker patients, and doctor shortages plague an overburdened and needlessly complicated system. Patients fear rising insurance premiums and astronomical medical bills. Crippling, top-down regulations imposed by broken laws, poor bureaucrat interpretation, and special interest lobbying prevent doctors from giving patients the […]
October 2, 2023
FIRE Releases 2024 Rankings of Best, Worst Colleges for Free Speech
Students weigh a lot of factors when deciding where to go to college. What’s the graduation rate? Do they have a strong liberal arts program? How much is tuition? A university’s commitment to free speech is one of them. Enter the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) ,a grantee of Stand Together Trust. Every […]
September 11, 2023
Reason’s Pension Integrity Project celebrates major reform in North Dakota
Fixing complex problems requires comprehensive approaches, collaboration, patience, and people dedicated to finding realistic solutions. The Pension Integrity Project at Reason Foundation embodies these characteristics. Founded in 2013, the Pension Integrity Project, a grantee of Stand Together Trust, is tackling one of the biggest fiscal issues states face today — pension plans. Pension liabilities (pensions […]
September 7, 2023
Education organizations create roadmaps for families to use new state ESA programs
Families wanting more flexibility to individualize their children’s education notched big wins in 2023. Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, and Utah enacted laws expanding universal or near-universal Education Savings Account (ESA) programs. This tool provides families with funds to cover a range of educational expenses of their choosing. ESAs are a bridge to “different, not just […]
August 24, 2023
Washington D.C. Montessori school engages the whole child and the surrounding community
“What does school look like as a place you go to heal rather than a place you must heal from?” That’s the question teachers Zani Dalili-Ortique and Ebony Marshman asked themselves, their colleagues, and their neighbors beginning in 2019. Both say they couldn’t have imagined that a short three years later, it would be a […]
August 8, 2023