education

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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’...

Married 41 Years, Profs Turn Sex 101 Into an Institution

UC Santa Barbara profs

(Newser) - For more than 20 years, John and Janice Baldwin have instructed students at UC Santa Barbara about sex, love, and everything in between, while implicitly offering their own 41-year-old marriage as a positive example, the LA Times reports. Their “Sociology of Human Sexuality” is one of the most popular...

Texas Education Chief: Stop Hiring Dropouts

Wants 'voluntary ban' by state biz to get more to finish high school

(Newser) - Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott, reeling from criticism that the state is underreporting its dropout rates, called yesterday on the state’s leading business group to institute a voluntary ban on hiring dropouts, the Dallas Morning News reports. “It would send a powerful message to these kids,” Scott...

New GI Bill Gives Veterans Better Shot at College

Vastly expanded aid begins tomorrow

(Newser) - The new GI Bill, called the biggest veterans’ educational benefit program since 1944, takes effect tomorrow—and it’s poised to make a big difference, the Houston Chronicle reports. Some 90% of vets will receive two to three times more help paying for college, says one advocate. “This type...

Career-Switchers Flock to Teacher-Training Programs

Unemployment helps drive applications

(Newser) - With unemployment soaring, interest is booming in teacher-training programs for people switching careers, the Washington Post reports. This year, a 20-city retraining program saw applications climb 30%; in many areas there’s more interest than jobs available, outside of science, math, and physical education. The surge could help avert likely...

Prez to Unveil $4B Education Boost Today

Rewards states that push charter schools, teacher performance

(Newser) - President Obama will offer struggling states a carrot and a stick today, as he unveils draft guidelines for a new $4.35 billion education initiative designed to push charter schools, linking teacher pay to performance, and adopting common academic standards. The Race for the Top program, part of the stimulus...

Kid Chorus Rides Lady Gaga, Coldplay Covers to Viral Hits

PS22 students are the latest YouTube stars

(Newser) - The newest viral video stars are the fourth- and fifth-grade members of New York’s PS22 Chorus, thanks in part to celebrity blogger—and fan—Perez Hilton. “He’s the one who really got these kids on the map,” chorus director Gregg Breinberg tells MTV. But it’s...

Deal Near on Calif. Budget Gap
 Deal Near on Calif. Budget Gap 

Deal Near on Calif. Budget Gap

(Newser) - The California Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are just steps away from an agreement that would close the state’s $26.3 billion deficit, the Los Angeles Times reports. Talks are expected to conclude today. “I don’t think there is anything that would make negotiations shut down at...

Colleges Hope to Cash In on Naming Rights for Classes

Hope corporate funds can save programs

(Newser) - With schools hit hard by the recession, some are considering new ways to pull in cash. One idea: corporate sponsorship for classes, Time reports. City College of San Francisco may sell naming rights to 800 classes that might otherwise disappear. College officials have mixed feelings, with some put off but...

Obama to Propose $12B Community College Boost

(Newser) - Barack Obama will announce a plan today to pump $12 billion into community colleges over the next 10 years, USA Today reports. Most of the money—$9 billion—would reward programs that bolster graduation rates, or help graduates find local jobs. Another $2.5 billion would help seed renovation projects,...

Ooops: Chicago Schools Not the Miracle Obama Claimed

(Newser) - Arne Duncan isn’t quite the miracle worker Barack Obama made him out to be, according to a new study from a Chicago civic group. When Obama introduced his nominee for education secretary, he boasted that Duncan had boosted elementary school test results “From 38% of students meeting the...

Obama: Time to Rebuild Stronger Than Ever

President confident that nation will emerge from recession better than before

(Newser) - Fresh off a whirlwind world tour, President Obama is turning his attention once again to his domestic agenda. In a Washington Post editorial, Obama says his administration’s “swift and aggression action has helped pull our financial system and our economy back from the brink.” But the president...

Jim Brown 'Dead Wrong' for Dissing Tiger

(Newser) - NFL Hall of Famer and activist Jim Brown recently ripped Tiger Woods for not giving back to his community, and that’s just "dead wrong," Michael Wilbon writes in the Washington Post. Brown seems to think Woods' Learning Center in Anaheim exists to teach kids how to golf....

Obama Razes 'No Child Schoolhouse'
Obama Razes 'No Child Schoolhouse'

Obama Razes 'No Child Schoolhouse'

Bush-era name ditched as administration seeks to overhaul education law

(Newser) - A model of a little red schoolhouse used to promote the launch of the federal policy "No Child Left Behind" is no more, the Washington Post reports. In a highly symbolic move, the structure at the entrance of the Department of Education and policy logos of the Bush administration...

Schwarzenegger Seeks Switch to E-Textbooks

Paper is expensive, says governor; so are computers, say critics

(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger wants kids—and California’s budget—to stop lugging around paper textbooks, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The governator is advocating a switch to digital textbooks, in an effort to cut the $350 million the state spends on old-fashioned hardbound tomes each year. But critics worry that...

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...

SC Court Orders Gov to Take Stimulus Cash

(Newser) - The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that Gov. Mark Sanford must apply for $700 million in federal stimulus money aimed at education that the governor had strenuously resisted, the State reports. The state’s General Assembly had already mandated the move, but Sanford argued it had no authority to...

Colleges Consider Move to 3-Year Degrees

Downturn has colleges looking for ways to save students time, money

(Newser) - A growing number of colleges are looking at ways to cram 4-year degree courses into 3 to help students combat tough times, the Washington Post reports. More than half of teens have changed their college plans because of the economy, according to a recent survey, and many in the world...

Afghan Schoolgirls Sickened in 3rd Gas Attack

School attack is like 2 previous ones

(Newser) - Nearly 100 girls and six teachers are hospitalized in Afghanistan after an apparent gas attack on their school, the third such incident in the region recently. Five girls slipped briefly into a coma, but all are safely recovering after a poisoning that was likely the work of Taliban supporters who...

Old School? New School? Kids Rap to Better Grades

(Newser) - A novel afterschool program, developed in Chicago and Cleveland and just now hitting Denver, uses rap music to make kids better students, the Post reports. “They learn about similes, different poetic devices,” the program’s founder said. They “learn to rap a Shakespearean piece.” One decidedly...

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