public schools

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Chicago School Boycott Moves Downtown

'Teach-ins' at corporate offices protest unfair funding

(Newser) - Civic leaders held "teach-ins" at downtown Chicago businesses today to protest uneven education funding in Illinois, the Tribune reports. Educators joined students boycotting a second day of school in the lobbies of buildings including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Boeing Corp. Most businesses said they would welcome the students...

Boycott Disrupts Chicago's 1st Day of School

Inner-city students make symbolic visit to wealthy suburb

(Newser) - Hundred of Chicago students missed the first day of school today as they tried to enroll in more affluent suburban schools, the Tribune reports. Students and parents are protesting the uneven division of wealth among Illinois public schools by attempting to enroll en masse in top-rated North Shore schools. It’...

Philly Lets Students Leave Perilous Schools

Officials say reports of violence are rising, not the incidence of crime.

(Newser) - Twenty schools in Philadelphia are so “persistently dangerous” that the state is giving students the right to go elsewhere, reports the Inquirer. This figure is nearly double last year’s and includes a bump from one middle school to six, according to a list released yesterday by the Pennsylvania...

'Saving' Public Schools Not a Money Thing

Better education can't be legislated, or bought—parents have to make the effort

(Newser) - As dissatisfaction with the nation’s No Child Left Behind policy grows, it seems educators, politicians, and businessmen all have their own take on how to “save” the US public school system—with little consensus. Gary Stager, in Good, examines the overwhelmingly complex difficulties facing the nation’s ailing...

Nothing to Fear in Public School as Costco

Author/radio host/mom Sandra Tsing Loh outlines latest quest

(Newser) - For many urban, middle-class parents, sending kids to public school is a terrifying prospect. If you’re among that fretting class, Sandra Tsing Loh has a message: Chill out. In Mother on Fire: A True Motherf%#$@ Story About Parenting, Loh recounts her own journey through the school conundrum, and realizes...

Focus, Not IQ, Might be Best School Skill

Kids trained to flex 'executive function' muscles learn better

(Newser) - EF is the new IQ, and if educators accept that new acronym mantra, more preschoolers will be playing games, Newsweek reports. Executive function—the ability to repress distracting thoughts and focus on a task—could be a better indicator of scholarly success than intelligence alone; psychologist Adele Diamond implemented an...

School Supers Draw Big Bucks, Bigger Perks

Turnaround experts find profitable niche in failing school districts

(Newser) - Teachers aren't living in luxury, but some school superintendents are, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Some are pulling in $325,000 a year, plus multi-million-dollar consulting budgets to restructure impoverished, underperforming public school systems. The Monitor calls them "central office rock stars," a product of the No Child...

States Hide Big High School Dropout Rates

They send 1 set of numbers to DC, keep another set at home

(Newser) - Many states report rosy high school graduation rates to Washington but publicize much lower figures at home, the New York Times reports. The higher rates often fail to account for the nation's growing legion of dropouts, but states are leery to give the feds bad numbers in part because of...

Schools Spark Debate by Luring Out-of-Staters

Such tuition cuts will squeeze out local students, critics say

(Newser) - More state universities are trying to lure out-of-state students with lower tuition, a trend that critics say goes against the very purpose of such institutions, the New York Times reports. The schools often do it to make up for shrinking support from their own states, but some worry that universities,...

Court Sends Homeschoolers to Detention

Calif. says kids must be taught by teachers with credentials

(Newser) - California homeschoolers are breaking the law, an appeals court ruled yesterday, by not having certified teachers instructing their kids. California’s law has been clear since 1953, the court said: Kids must go to school full time or be tutored by a credentialed teacher. The decision puts the parents of...

Boom in Online Schooling Fuels Broad Debate

Freedom appeals to parents; critics worry over regulations, costs

(Newser) - With half a million children taking classes online, debate over virtual schooling is intensifying, the New York Times reports. The proliferation of web-based public schools has sparked concerns about public financing and the appropriateness of the model for young children. In Wisconsin, meanwhile, supporters won a fight last week to...

Best Places to Educate Children
Best Places to Educate Children
Dec 20, 2007 5:31 PM CST

Best Places to Educate Children

(Newser) - Wondering where’s the best place to educate your children? Compiling scores from various criteria--strength of the public school system, options for private schools, library popularity, the abundance of higher-learning institutions—Forbes magazine made a list of the best educational environments. Here’s the top ten:
  1. Washington, DC-Arlington, VA
  2. Madison,
...

Religion Remains Flashpoint With Huckabee

GOP candidate sounds off on creationism in schools, Romney's Mormon faith

(Newser) - A month before the Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee reacted with frustration when asked if creationism should be taught in public schools, the AP reports. Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who has said he does not believe in Darwin's theory of evolution, said his personal views on religion...

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