Senate rejects extending DC voucher program
Sen. Lieberman pushes a vote to open program to new students.
Mayor Adrian Fenty supported the effort but has not lobbied hard for it. (TWP)
March Madness: What's the academic effect?
With the recent hysteria about kids missing school because of snow, it seems appropriate to look at the effect March Madness has on academics at the 65 colleges invited to the basketball tournament and others where students are equally obsessed.
A nationwide independent poll funded and conducted by me strongly suggests that during the three-week NCAA championship tournament,many classes will be cancelled, the minds of many students will wander and very little in the way of schoolwork will get done on numerous campuses over the next few weeks.
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Should we let students reject college prep?
USA Today has a long and interesting story today on, as its headline says, "What if a college education just isn't for everyone?" It is a good question. I don't think college is for everyone. But I also don't think we should let 15 or 16 year olds take themselves out of English and math courses that will prepare them for college--and for good jobs or trade schools, according to some of the research I have seen.
After they have walked across the auditorium stage and received their high school diplomas, they can decide what they want to do next, knowing they are equipped for any number of choices. Dumping thecollege option in sophomore year makes no sense. High schools that allow that are taking us back to the bad old days when kids from some families were told, in sometimes subtle and sometimes less subtle ways, that college was not for them and the metal shop teacher would love to
Montgomery College faces 'devastating' cuts
Montgomery College, the largest community college in Maryland and one of the nation's most esteemed two-year institutions, is reeling at thedire budget plan released yesterday by the county executive.
Isiah Leggett (D) proposed a $4.3 billion spending plan that "cuts the total government budget for the first time in more than 40 years," according to my colleague Michael Laris.
Montgomery College, which relies on the county for nearly half of its budget, faces a 12-percent reduction in county funds, and $14.5 million less than requested.
Interim President Hercules Pinkney said in a statement the cut would "have a devastating impact on the college's ability to meet the record demand by county residents" for the college's services.
"Our students--current and future county taxpayers--are the key to our community's recovery, but already too many of them cannot get into the classes they need at the College because there are not enough professors and not enough classrooms. They are essentially turned away from the county's open access higher education institution," Pinkney said.
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