NewsTrust - Education Reform - Most Recent Stories: Opinion

Why We're Failing Math and Science

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - Oct. 26 (Interview) - The U.S. lags far behind other developed countries at the K-12 level in terms of measured performance in math and science courses. What can be done to change that?

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The New Untouchables

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Thomas L. Friedman - Oct. 21 (Opinion) - Those who create services, opportunities and ways to recruit work can compete on the world market. That is the key to understanding our education challenge today.

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Democrats should take Obama's lead and push harder for education reform

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Times - By Nicholas D. Kristof - Oct. 16 (Opinion) - Good schools constitute a far more potent weapon against poverty than welfare, food stamps or housing subsidies. Yet Democrats have too often resisted reform as disadvantaged children have been cemented into an underclass by third-rate schools.

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The Prospects for No Child Left Behind

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

epi.org - By Richard Rothstein - Oct. 13 (Opinion) - Many critics of NCLB have been dismayed by Duncan’s apparent resolve. But they may be reacting too soon. The principles for re-authorization that Duncan has announced represent a radical departure from NCLB and open uncharted territory in education policy.

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The Evolution Of Technology In Schools

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

TechCrunch - By Daniel Brusilovsky - Oct. 05 (Opinion) - Schools try to keep up with the current technology trends, especially in Silicon Valley, the home of technology innovation. You would think that schools in Silicon Valley would be the most up to date on technology—with the latest computers, projectors, drawing boards—but coming from a first hand perspective, as a student at a local school, it’s the complete opposite. I go to a high school where there are no technology classes that even teach students the basics of web development, or video production, or anything of that matter.

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Spanking Linked to Lower IQ in Children

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

medscape.com - By Janis C. Kelly - Sep. 24 (Research) - Groundbreaking research suggests children who are spanked have lower IQs than those who are not, and that the difference is large enough to lower national IQ scores in countries where corporal punishment of children is routine.

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Big Food vs. Big Insurance

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Michael Pollan - Sep. 09 (Opinion) - The American way of eating has become the elephant in the room in the debate over health care.

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Dan Walters: Voc ed bill on right track, but facing uphill battle - Sacramento Politics - California Politics

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Sacramento Bee - By Dan Walters - Aug. 17 (Opinion) - Not only does the decline in what's now called "career technical education" or CTE, exacerbate the state's dropout crisis (at least a quarter of kids don't finish high school), but it ill serves the larger societal interest in having skilled workers...It's problematic, however, whether a decree from Sacramento, even one that's logical and fair, would succeed in restoring vocational education to the honorable position it deserves, since the education establishment seems bent on strangling or co-opting it.

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For U.S. Education Dollars, States Must Buy In to the President's Reform Plan

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - Jul. 30 (Editorial) - PRESIDENT OBAMA is unabashed in his demand that any state wanting extra educational dollars share in his administration's reform agenda. That means tougher standards, more charter schools and holding teachers accountable. It's encouraging that even before a penny has been doled out, this aggressive stance is forcing states to rethink traditional approaches to education.

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Obama's View of Education Is Stuck in Reverse

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By Henry A. Giroux - Jul. 24 (Opinion) - While President Obama and his secretary of education, Arne Duncan, have focused on public education, they have done so by largely embracing the Bush administration's view of educational reform, which includes more testing, more empirically based accountability measures, more charter schools, more military academies, defining the purpose of education in largely economic terms, and punishing public schools that don't measure up to high-stakes testing measures.

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The underworked American

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Economist - Jun. 11 (Opinion) - American schoolchildren are unlikely to end up working as hard as the French, let alone the South Koreans, any time soon. There are institutional reasons for this. The federal government has only a limited influence over the school system. Powerful interest groups, most notably the teachers’ unions, but also the summer-camp industry, have a vested interest in the status quo. But reformers are also up against powerful cultural forces.

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Teaching Pioneer Deborah Meier on Obama's Education Policy and the Future of Charter Schools

Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Juan Gonzalez, Deborah Meier, Amy Goodman - May. 20 (Interview) - As part of the Obama administration’s education plan, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has urged states to consider partnerships with successful charter school operators. We speak to Deborah Meier, who has spent nearly four decades working in public education as a teacher, principal, writer and public advocate. She is considered to be the founder of the small schools movement and founded a number of public elementary and secondary schools in New York and Boston that serve predominantly low-income African American and Latino students.

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The Economics of Curricular Convergence

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

aejmc.org - By Michael Bugeja - May. 15 (Opinion) - Several years and re-accreditations have passed since journalism and communication schools began revamping their curricula to incorporate convergence. Given the economic downturn, it is time for curricular re-assessment—this time because of budget cuts. Many programs face two choices: lose courses or lose people. Accredited journalism and mass communication programs may be suffering more than other academic units because seats in our skills classes and laboratories should be set at 15 and should not exceed 20, according to the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

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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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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 Reform's Big Stake

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

Huffington Post - By Marc Lampkin - May. 08 (Opinion) - America cannot afford to lose one more child to a substandard school. President Obama campaigned that he would drastically improve school quality and put more effective teachers in every classroom. And U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is off to a strong start by demanding greater accountability from schools. But, we can't sit back and wait for leaders to act under their own steam. Parents and students must demand fundamental reform for their schools.

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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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Fix public education

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

Seattle Times - By Donald P. Nielsen - May. 07 (Editorial) - In other words, if only 20 percent of our children receive the education needed, then 80 percent of our children will not be adequately prepared for the world in which they will live.

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No child left to move ahead

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

San Francisco Chronicle - By Matt Levinson - May. 07 (Opinion) - Several years ago, when I taught Advanced Placement U.S. history, I had a student who grossly underperformed during the school year, yet somehow managed to score a 5 on the AP exam. When I asked him how he managed to accomplish this feat, he said, "I spent two weeks straight studying, reading, and reviewing, and that's all I needed."

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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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Obama administration takes on school reform

Tue, 05 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

San Francisco Chronicle - May. 05 (Editorial) - More spending, however, does not necessarily translate into better schools. Duncan's challenge is to spend the money quickly and strategically while ratcheting up accountability measures for both teachers and students.

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