Monday, November 4, 2013

11-4-13 The Answer Sheet Why is Arne Duncan visiting Haiti?

Why is Arne Duncan visiting Haiti?:


Why is Arne Duncan visiting Haiti?


Arne Duncan (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)
Arne Duncan (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)
Education Secretary Arne Duncan travels a lot around the country as the Obama administration’s school reform chief, visiting classrooms and talking up federal education policies. There’s nothing unusual about that — but a trip he began on Monday is.
Duncan is visiting the impoverished country of Haiti, at the invitation of the education minister there, to talk about school reform and visit some schools, according to this piece by my colleague Lyndsey Layton. And he is taking eight — yes eight — department staff members on the two-day trip, which is described on his official schedule like this:
Secretary Duncan will visit Haiti at the invitation of Vanneur Pierre, Haitian Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, to see the education system in Haiti firsthand. While in Haiti, Secretary Duncan will announce a new 


A warning to Virginia’s next governor
The next governor of Virginia needs to pay careful attention to this. More than 35 school boards across Virginia have passed resolutions calling on education officials to revamp the Standards of Learning testing system in what amounts to growing pushback to Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s school-reform agenda. Many more of the 134 school districts in […]    

Stanford’s strange kissing tradition – and 5 other unusual college customs
Stanford University is known for many things: its interdisciplinary curriculum, a heavenly campus, super-smart students – and the annual kissing event. Yes, Stanford is famous for its annual  ”Full Moon on the Quad,” which – as the Stanford Web site explains – is an event in which “freshmen are kissed at midnight by seniors under the […]    
Viral video: dad reacts to report card
Here’s a video that went viral showing a father in Britain reacting strongly when he learned that his son had gotten a ‘C’ in math — which is a passing grade — after first flunking it. The dad is Farnoosh Shahrokhshahi and it was his son, Aria, who set up a camera just before he told his […]    



11-3-13 The Answer Sheet Gov. Chris Christie yells at a teacher
The Answer Sheet: Gov. Chris Christie yells at a teacher (again)BY VALERIE STRAUSSNovember 3 at 12:04 pmNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, center left, campaigning on Saturday (AP Photo/Mel Evans)“Why,”  a New Jersey teacher asked Gov. Chris Christie (R), “do you continue to spread the myth that our schools and teachers are failing?”The teacher who asked this at a campaign rally in Somer’s Point on S