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Don't abandon public schools

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Philadelphia Inquirer - May. 11 (Editorial) - Vouchers are not the answer to what's wrong with America's public schools. But a pilot program for District of Columbia children deserved better than the shoddy treatment it received from Congress. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program was created by Congress in 2004 for families who wanted to escape abysmal, unsafe schools. But last month, when it came time to reauthorize the voucher program in the federal omnibus spending bill, Congress left out the $14 million program.

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Crossing the Gap

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

tolerance.org - By Tim Lockette - May. 11 (Special Report) - Brandon Saunders has trouble believing there are places like New Trier High School — a public school with an ivy-walled, university-like campus, with gyms for almost every sport, a multi-room college counseling center, and bright-eyed teachers planning their lessons in cubicle-like offices as up-to-date as any in corporate America. "It's immaculate," he said after seeing New Trier's campus. "I was blown away." Amanda Cohen has trouble believing there are schools where kids have to share textbooks, where parents are asked to supply toilet paper, and where no one comes to fix a bathroom without a door.

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Teaching in the Downturn

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

tolerance.org - By Jennifer Holladay & Tim Lockette - May. 11 (Special Report) - Few of today's teachers can remember an economic situation quite like the one we now face. To find analogies for the collapse of the housing bubble and the subsequent credit crisis, we have to search not our memories but our textbooks. The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath suddenly make more sense now. Generations of students have groaned at the task of memorizing acronyms like FDIC or FNMA: now they seem to leap off the pages of the history books. What will happen next? Will the economy bounce back, or will a wave of foreclosures create an invisible "Dust Bowl," uprooting hundreds of thousands of people? And how do we teach in this environment? To help our readers navigate these uncharted waters, we called in the experts. In the interviews below, social critic Meizhu Lui offers her take on where the crisis may lead us, and psychologist Melanie Killen talks about how to help your students cope in a time when the economic news is grim.

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In New York City, New Teachers Need Not Apply

Sun, 10 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Javier C. Hernandez - May. 10 (Special Report) - Larissa Patel dreamed of teaching English at a Brooklyn public school this fall, motivated by a desire to help low-income children. But instead, on Friday, Ms. Patel spent the day filling out applications for 30 private school jobs. Ms. Patel’s abrupt change in plans was precipitated by a new citywide ban on hiring teachers from outside the school system.

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Education paths

Sun, 10 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Denver Post - By Michael P. Mazenko - May. 10 (Opinion) - "Too many people are going to college." This blasphemy from controversial social critic Charles Murray in his book "Real Education" should not be immediately dismissed, but hotly debated as Colorado evaluates school reform. Considering three-quarters of high school students go on to college, but less than one-third of Americans currently has a bachelor's degree, Murray may be right about our focus on four-year colleges.

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Why Colorado's "Race" will end at starting line

Sun, 10 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Denver Post - By Dick Hilker - May. 10 (Opinion) - If you're waiting for some true Obama-style public education reform to come to Colorado, you likely will be disappointed. Our new president issued some tough words on schools right after he took office. Foremost, he called for merit pay for the best teachers, getting rid of teachers who are in the wrong profession, and making it easier for districts to create charter schools.

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Education secretary: Stimulus money is for next two years

Sat, 09 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Howard Blume - May. 09 (News Report) - The top education official in the Obama administration says that federal stimulus dollars for school districts are meant to be spent over two years, which aligns with the position of L.A. school officials in their ongoing political war with employee unions over looming layoffs. The comment by Education Secretary Arne Duncan is significant because unions have been campaigning for district officials to spend as much of the stimulus money as needed to save jobs now. District officials have countered that employees must agree to conditional salary concessions if all jobs are to be saved.

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Invest in education, reform loan program - Editorials

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Miami Herald - May. 08 (Editorial) - With the cost of a college education soaring all over the country, including in Florida, reforming college-loan plans is taking on a new urgency. Fortunately, there is a proposal on the table that won't be a burden on taxpayers and could ease the staggering debt load for young people entering the workplace. This should be a no-brainer for Congress. When it comes to legislation, though, nothing is ever easy.

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Direct Federal Students Loans: a Better Option Than Relying on Private Lenders

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - May. 08 (Editorial) - We see little compelling reason to continue propping up private lenders. Sallie Mae, the largest private lender, agrees. Its compromise proposal would also allow private firms to originate loans and then pass them on to the Treasury in return for fees.

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Madrasas, militancy, and education

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Daily Star - By Mahfuzur Rahman - May. 08 (Opinion) - IN recent months, there has been a spate of headlines about activities of Islamist militants all over the country. A veritable redoubt has been discovered in the south of the country, complete with training facilities, explosives, arms and ammunition, and even a moat to make it impregnable. Militant women have been found with jihadi literature in their possession. There have been reports of renewed activities by militant groups that had been driven underground by police action.

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Obama seeks to keep vouchers, for now

Thu, 07 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

USA Today - By Greg Toppo - May. 07 (News Report) - President Obama will ask Congress to temporarily extend the school voucher program in the District of Columbia until students now attending private high schools with taxpayer dollars graduate, an administration official said Wednesday.

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The cost of Washington school reform: $3.4 billion

Thu, 07 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Donna Gordon Blankinship - May. 07 (Special Report) - While state lawmakers were debating plans to reform the state's education system, no one wanted to talk about how much the changes would cost and where the money would come from. They're talking now.

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L.A. Unified pays teachers not to teach

Wed, 06 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Jason Song - May. 06 (Special Report) - For seven years, the Los Angeles Unified School District has paid Matthew Kim a teaching salary of up to $68,000 per year, plus benefits. His job is to do nothing.

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An Unlikely Duo Pushes for Entrepreneurship in Schools

Wed, 06 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New Republic - By Seyward Darby - May. 06 (Special Report) - An "odd couple" of think tanks have combined forces on education reform. This morning, the Center for American Progress (CAP), the organization that spawned numerous Obama administration officials and policy ideas, and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), considered a leading architect of Bush administration policy, unveiled a joint report on innovation and entrepreneurship in education. Seated on a panel at the swanky Hotel Monaco on F Street, representatives of the two groups shared friendly jabs--literally, they were nudging each other behind the microphones--about how unlikely it had seemed that the two groups would ever find common ground. But they found it, and the fruits of their labors are detailed in the report "Stimulating Excellence: Unleashing the Power of Innovation in Education."

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Discovering what the Founders knew

Wed, 06 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Hill - By Edward M. Kennedy - May. 06 (Opinion) - To start, we must recognize that early childhood sets the course for future learning, and that focusing on children during their first years is one of the best education investments our government can make. High-quality early learning opportunities increase preparedness for school, reduce placements in special education, and in many cases improve parenting as well. That’s why I look forward to working with the president to help states create more and better early-childhood education opportunities through early learning challenge grants.

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NY Charter school teachers to union: Let my people go

Wed, 06 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Thinker - By Rick Moran - May. 06 (Opinion) - Union work rules at most public schools are an absolute drag on school reform as unions seek to undermine the very concept of charter schools. They are a mortal threat to their centralized power structure as well as the hold they have over the educational process.

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Rundown S.C. school gets makeover