Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, June 7, 2010

Barbara Boxer for U.S. Senate | Take Action | Pledge your vote for Barbara Boxer

Barbara Boxer for U.S. Senate | Take Action | Pledge your vote for Barbara Boxer

Pledge to vote for Barbara on June 8

The June 8 primary election is right around the corner. It's an important milestone in this race, and our campaign is already working hard to make sure that hundreds of thousands of friends like you get to the polls.

Please help by watching this video and sharing it with your friends. Then take our online pledge to cast your vote on June 8 by filling out the form to the right.

Remainders: City students to plant oysters with a Cousteau | GothamSchools

Remainders: City students to plant oysters with a Cousteau | GothamSchools

Remainders: City students to plant oysters with a Cousteau

Prospect of more budget cuts worries Texas higher education leaders

Prospect of more budget cuts worries Texas higher education leaders

Prospect of more budget cuts worries Texas higher education leaders

Lawmakers won't decide until next year whether to spare state financial aid program from reductions.

William Powers Jr.
Laura Skelding/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
William Powers Jr.
Judith Zaffirini
Harry Cabluck/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Judith Zaffirini
Raymund Paredes
Kye R. Lee/THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Raymund Paredes


By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Updated: 5:24 a.m. Monday, June 7, 2010
Published: 9:30 p.m. Sunday, June 6, 2010

Public colleges and universities in Texas are absorbing a 5 percent cut in state funding by laying off employees, deferring repairs, scaling back travel and finding other savings. But the prospect of an additional reduction of 10 percent in the next two-year budget has some higher education leaders questioning the state's commitment to boosting enrollment.
"It couldn't come at a worse time, because we're experiencing record double-digit enrollment growth," said Rey García, president of the Texas Association of Community Colleges. "If the state's not going to pay for the cost of enrollment growth, we may not be able to grow, and we may have to abandon the state's goal of more access to higher education."
Last month , the Legislative Budget Board and Gov. Rick Perry ordered agencies and universities to propose cuts totaling 10 percent of their state funding for the two-year budget cycle that will begin in September 2011.
Higher education constitutes only about 15 percent of the state's current $87 billion general revenue fund — the portion of the budget over which the Legislature has control — but it is especially vulnerable in tight fiscal times. The reason: Several other high-dollar slices of the budget pie, including Medicaid, children's health insurance, public education and pension contributions, are exempt from cuts.
Some higher education leaders and lawmakers are especially concerned about the potential for reductions in the state's $1.1 billion student financial aid program. Although the budget board spared that program from the 5 percent cut, there is no assurance that it will get a pass again.
"We're trying to get that answered right now," said Andy Kesling, a spokesman for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. "I wouldn't assume one way or the other."
Perry spokesman Allison Castle, when asked whether the governor thinks higher education should be cut more than the 5 percent and whether financial aid should be spared, said: "The governor has always believed in making higher education more accessible, affordable and accountable. Requesting information about the impact of additional reductions is part of keeping state government accountable to taxpayers and ensuring we continue to live within our means. This is the first step in a yearlong process, and agencies have been asked to submit their proposals for leadership and lawmakers to consider."
Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, the coordinating board's top administrator, said in a letter to Perry and

Teachers union to sue Chicago Board of Education | abc7chicago.com

Teachers union to sue Chicago Board of Education | abc7chicago.com

Teachers union to sue Chicago Board of Education

Updated at 05:11 PM today

The Chicago Teachers Union is expected to file a lawsuit against the school board to prevent it from increasing class sizes.

Union president Marilyn Stewart announced the lawsuit Tuesday. She says the Board of Education plans to increase class sizes by 20 percent from an average of 28 students to 35.

Stewart claims that would be a violation of Chicago's health and safety codes. She also calls it an "educational disaster."

"It appears that CPS is willing to sacrifice Chicago's students in order to balance its budget. Just what are we supposed to tell our students in 10 years who drop

Reid: Return to Clinton-era plan for education - My News 4

Reid: Return to Clinton-era plan for education - My News 4


Reid: Return to Clinton-era plan for education

Page Last Updated: Monday June 7, 2010 12:26pm PDT
Reno (MyNews4.com) --Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid paid a visit to northern Nevada over the weekend. The Senator hosted a volunteer appreciation lunch for those who are working on his re-election campaign. (Watch News 4's video story here.)

The Democrat is seeking a fifth term in the U.S. Senate. When asked about the latest budget shortfalls in Nevada's Higher Education System, Reid says the Federal government needs to step in and help. Reid said one plan he has is to bring back a plan from the Clinton Administration.

"We had a great plan during the Clinton years, where it was terrific with school construction, it allowed schools to use their money for education, and not construction money. We're going to get back to that. Bush got rid of that but we are going to renew that, there are many things we can do to help education."

Senator Reid went on to say that Nevada's contribution to education is now the worst in the country, and no matter what happens with the upcoming election, N






Fort Worth, San Antonio to be test markets for state education campaign - Fort Worth Business Press

Fort Worth, San Antonio to be test markets for state education campaign - Fort Worth Business Press

Fort Worth, San Antonio to be test markets for state education campaign

+ enlarge photo
Dr. Raymund Paredes, speaking at the Irving Chamber of Commerce May 25SONY DSC

Fort Worth and San Antonio will be the test markets for a new Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board grassroots campaign called Generation TX, which is designed to encourage all Texas students to attend college.

The program will launch at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. These pilot markets will lay the foundation for building a movement focused on creating a culture of college and career readiness that will expand statewide in subsequent years, according to state officials.

“It’s an attempt to reach out to young people of all backgrounds and say, we want you to be the greatest generation in the history of this state,” said Raymund Paredes, Texas Commissioner of Higher Education, speaking at the Irving Chamber of Commerce State of Higher Education program on May 25. “And the key to being the greatest generation in the history of this state is for you [the students] to get a good education.”

Paredes said the campaign’s message will be designed for different regions of the state.

“We’re going to reach out to the whole state and the particular populations of those different regions,” he said. “I’m from El Paso,

U.N. Women's Health Conference Must Focus on Education - Bonnie Erbe (usnews.com)

U.N. Women's Health Conference Must Focus on Education - Bonnie Erbe (usnews.com)

U.N. Women's Health Conference Must Focus on Education

June 07, 2010 10:55 AM ET | Bonnie Erbe | Permanent Link | Print
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Washington D.C. is the focal point starting today for a three-day gathering of United Nations and NGO officials all dedicated to the improvement of maternal health. There are many, many topics on the agenda including elimination of fistula and the use of microbicides (in the form of vaginal spray or gel) to prevent the transmission of AIDS. According to France 24:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was expected to address the gathering later Monday by video, and Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, was due to announce major funding for women's and children's health initiatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Over three days, some 3,500 conference participants from 140 countries will look at progress that has been made in improving global maternal health and assess the challenges that remain.
Supporters plan to use the conference as a launching-pad to raise 12 billion for women's and children'shealth worldwide. I wish them nothing but good luck in that venture. But at the same time, I hope the United Nations has not been cowed by the United States religious right into decreasing its support for family planning education and provision of birth control pills.

Of course we want to prevent the suffering and death that women and children endure in developing nations. At the same time, we want to educate uneducated women so they are no longer dependent

State Approves More Rigorous Education Standards | WBNS-10TV, Central Ohio News

State Approves More Rigorous Education Standards | WBNS-10TV, Central Ohio News

State Approves More Rigorous Education Standards

Monday, June 7, 2010 7:00 PM

Updated: Monday, June 7, 2010 7:40 PM

Video
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Students across Ohio could soon see big changes in the way they are educated, after the state board of education on Monday approved rigorous standards for coursework.
Susan Johnson took nothing for granted when her daughter Kelsey applied for college, 10TV's Tanisha Mallett reported.
"Applying to college is always nerve-racking, you don't always know if they're going to get in but you hope," Johnson said.
This fall Kelsey Johnson will attend Ohio Dominican University.
Johnson said her daughters strong course work helped make that possible.
The Ohio Board of Education says every student should have those same opportunities, and adopted new standards in English, math, the arts, social studies, and science.
"Standards talk about what should be taught at every grade level in every one of these subjects," said state board of education member Mike Collins.
They said those standards will align with college and work expectations, create rigorous coursework that will be consistent statewide and meet

How scared should SUNY’s Charter School Institute really be? | GothamSchools

How scared should SUNY’s Charter School Institute really be? | GothamSchools


Mulgrew says school bureaucracy should take deeper cuts











How scared should SUNY’s Charter School Institute really be?

Was the State University of New York’s ability to approve and oversee charter schools truly at risk during last month’s charter school cap debate? The lead vignette of today’s Times profile of city lobbyist Micah Lashersuggests that it was:
Just when Micah C. Lasher thought it was safe to finally sleep one recent morning, three words appeared in his in-box: “It’s a sham.”
Mr. Lasher had stayed up all night helping write a bill to increase the number of charter schools in New York, a cornerstone of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s education agenda. But amid the frenzy, a highly contentious provision had slipped by him: the State University of New York would lose its power to approve charter schools.
If SUNY’s Charter School Institute really was only saved during a middle-of-the-night wrangling, that could be a