public schools

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Chicago Schools Lag Gains Claimed by Duncan

Test scores in ed secretary's former district trail other cities

(Newser) - In the latest test results, Chicago schools failed to show evidence of the gains claimed by their former superintendent, Arne Duncan, whose success in turning around the struggling system was widely touted when he was nominated for education secretary. Students in Miami, Houston, and New York outscored Chicago in math;...

Public College Tuition Rises Despite Recession

It increases faster than costs at private schools

(Newser) - Hoping for a tuition break in the recession? Fat chance. The price of a college education continues to rise, with costs at public schools rising faster than those at private institutions. Tuition and fees at a public 4-year college now average $7,020, versus $26,273 at a private college....

Teacher Fired for Butt Art Paints Colbert for Charity

Stan Murmur's auctioning portrait to benefit Va. public schools

(Newser) - A Virginia teacher fired after a YouTube clip surfaced of him using his posterior to paint is turning the other cheek—and auctioning off a portrait of comedian Stephen Colbert to benefit public schools. Stan Murmur uses what WTVR-TV calls “the anthropometric monotype method of painting. That means he...

3 of 4 Oklahoma Students Can't Name First President

Only 3% would pass US citizenship test

(Newser) - Are you smarter about American history than a recent immigrant? Most of the students in Oklahoma’s public high schools aren’t. A conservative think tank asked thousands of high school kids to answer 10 questions drawn from the citizenship test given to recent immigrants. Would-be citizens have to answer...

Family of Swine Flu Victim Suing NYC for $40M

Says city didn't provide a safe workplace for assistant principal

(Newser) - The family of Mitchell Weiner, a Queens middle school assistant principal who died in May after contracting H1N1, is suing New York City for $40 million, arguing that it didn’t provide a safe workplace, the New York Daily News reports. They also contend that the city didn’t notify...

Duncan Poised to Be Most Powerful Ed Sec Ever

Tight with prez, Duncan holds keys to $5B in stimulus funds

(Newser) - Tight with President Obama and with $5 billion at his disposal, Arne Duncan may become the strongest education secretary in history, writes Nia-Malika Henderson for Politico. “Never ever have they had $5 billion to decide what to do in the education system,” says an education advocate. And it’...

Americans Work Hard, But Their Kids Are Lazy

(Newser) - Americans may jaw about their grueling work weeks and meager vacations, but their kids? While European and Asian children are logging in long school days and pounding out homework, US students are taking time off, the Economist reports. With one of the world's shortest school weeks and longest summers—which...

Record 20M US Kids Get Free Lunch

Many are first-timers to state program

(Newser) - It’s good there is such a thing as a free lunch, since more US students than ever need one. Nearly 20 million kids got a free or reduced-price school lunch in February, overwhelming districts that also face rising food costs. Nationwide enrollment in the government-subsidized program was up 6....

US Sees 2nd Flu Death; CDC Eases Up on Schools

(Newser) - Texas health officials said today that a US woman who lived near the Mexico border has died from swine flu—the second death in the nation and first of a US resident, USA Today reports. The news, however, comes amid continued confidence that the H1N1 virus remains relatively mild here,...

Swine Flu Shuts 2nd NY School
 Swine Flu Shuts 2nd NY School 

Swine Flu Shuts 2nd NY School

Dozens of children call in sick in second major outbreak in Queens

(Newser) - A second school in Queens has been shut down after dozens of students suffered symptoms of swine flu, reports the New York Daily News. Cases have also been found in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and an outbreak is suspected at a Catholic school in Manhattan. The public school closed yesterday,...

Obama to Push Merit Pay for Teachers in Schools Plan

Prez to push teacher merit pay, lower dropout rates

(Newser) - In a speech today before the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, President Obama will lay out his plan for American schools, reports the Wall Street Journal. Most controversially, the president aims to expand merit pay for teachers, a measure that Democratic teacher unions are traditionally leery of. If teachers develop...

Bargain-Hunting Students Swarm State Universities

Officials walk line between shoring up budgets, maintaining reputations

(Newser) - The unraveling economy is spurring a boom in applications to public universities as students pursue higher education at lower prices, the New York Times reports. But while increased enrollment may help offset the budget cuts that many public institutions expect as states trim budgets, it can also diminish the student...

How to Fix the Education Divide
 How to Fix the Education Divide 
OPINION

How to Fix the Education Divide

Racial gap is 'last great civil-rights battle': Klein and Sharpton

(Newser) - America is facing its “last great civil-rights battle”: the racial education gap, write Joel I Klein and Al Sharpton in a Wall Street Journal. “Today the average 12th-grade black or Hispanic student has the reading, writing, and math skills of an eighth-grade white student,” they note. But...

What Did Caroline Actually Do for Schools?

Hard to pin down what, exactly, she brought to the Department of Education

(Newser) - Caroline Kennedy’s $1-a-year gig raising funds for the New York City public schools is being touted as evidence that she's qualified for the Senate. But that seems odd, writes Glenn Thrush in Politico, given the amount of vagueness about what, and how much, she actually did there. Says one...

Big Choices for Obamas: Chef, Church

Special interest groups want to pick Obamas' puppy, church, chef

(Newser) - With the incoming first family's private decisions being scrutinized as breathlessly as the president-elect's cabinet picks, you already know about the battle over the puppy, and the private-or-public-school competition. New York reports on three other hotly contested issues:
  • The French-trained chef hired by Laura Bush may be replaced to reflect
...

Obama Girls Visit DC Schools
 Obama Girls Visit DC Schools 

Obama Girls Visit DC Schools

Private schools likely for first daughters

(Newser) - Sasha and Malia Obama visited their mother's shortlist of Washington schools today, the AP reports. Reporters scoured the Beltway for signs of their motorcade, making a possible sighting outside the diverse Georgetown Day School. Chelsea Clinton's alma mater, Sidwell Friends, is also expected to be an option, as are DC's...

DC Schools Clamoring for Obama Girls

Michelle visits private schools competing for first kids

(Newser) - The politicos are debating Barack Obama's cabinet, but Washington’s parents are intent on another Presidential speculation: Where will the Obama girls go to school? Michelle Obama toured two of DC’s top private schools last week, and a third top academy is also thought to be on the shortlist....

DC Schools Compete for First Daughters
 DC Schools 
 Compete for 
 First Daughters 
Analysis

DC Schools Compete for First Daughters

Washington's elite institutions vie for first daughters

(Newser) - As the Obamas head to Washington, the locals are abuzz about which private school might land first daughters Malia and Sasha. The Quaker school Sidwell Friends, Chelsea Clinton's alma mater, offers a host of big Beltway names, including some Biden grandkids. But many of them are Clintonites. “Imagine the...

DC Schools Give Kids Money to Improve Grades

Schools pay students for good behavior, grades

(Newser) - Schools in Washington, DC, hope to expand children's minds by filling their wallets. Students who get good grades, attend class, and behave earn points that will net them paychecks of up to $1,500 each year, NPR reports. "Every child has a switch, and it's our job as...

42% Would Dump Job to Teach
 42% Would Dump Job to Teach 

42% Would Dump Job to Teach

But schools will have to show them the money

(Newser) - Almost half—42%—of college-educated adults would consider becoming teachers, the Christian Science Monitor reports.That's good news, since US schools will be on the hunt for 3 million to 5 million teachers by 2020, thanks to rising enrollment and baby boomers who are laying down the chalk. But to...

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