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The Education of Michelle Bachmann by Tim Murphy , Mother Jones | June 22, 2011
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has a reputation for saying nutty things. Perhaps you've heard. To the congresswoman's critics, her overheated accusations — suggesting, for instance, that President Obama would create "re-education camps" for American kids or that Census data might be used as a tool for mass incarceration — are just the product of mindless conspiracy theorizing. But that misses the point. There is a method to Bachmann's madness (such as it is) that her critics don't always understand. Long before she emerged as a bomb-throwing cable news fixture, Bachmann cut her teeth in a different sort of campaign that mirrored the religious and constitutional arguments she uses today to attack President Obama's policies. As an early culture warrior, she laid the foundation for her political career by railing against the Profile of Learning, a state curriculum standard that she and her allies argued was leading the nation toward a pantheistic, pro-abortion, one-world society. read more »Our Fantasy Nation? by Nicholas D. Kristof, | June 6, 2011
With Tea Party conservatives and many Republicans balking at raising the debt ceiling, let me offer them an example of a nation that lives up to their ideals. It has among the lowest tax burdens of any major country: fewer than 2 percent of the people pay any taxes. Government is limited, so that burdensome regulations never kill jobs. This society embraces traditional religious values and a conservative sensibility. Nobody minds school prayer, same-sex marriage isn’t imaginable, and criminals are never coddled. The budget priority is a strong military, the nation’s most respected institution. When generals decide on a policy for, say, Afghanistan, politicians defer to them. Citizens are deeply patriotic, and nobody burns flags. So what is this Republican Eden, this Utopia? Why, it’s Pakistan. read more »The Real Debt Crisis by Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Washington Post | May 18, 2011
For the millions who will graduate from college this year, the events of this month and next represent not just the end of college but the beginning of a new and meaningful chapter in their lives. That chapter, for most, however, will be accompanied by hefty student loan payments. Still, for many, the decision to take out loans to pay college will be one of an important investment, and well worth the cost. Last month’s jobs report found that the unemployment rate among college graduates was 4.5 percent, half of the national rate. And the median bachelor’s degree recipient working full-time in 2008 made 65 percent more than the median high school graduate. But there is a growing group of students who will find a harsh reality when they enter — or at least try to enter — the workforce. These are the students who have enrolled in the growing industry of for-profit colleges. read more »How The Right Wing Schools Education Reformists by Jeff Bryant, OurFuture.org | May 5, 2011
Now that No Child Left Behind has become the butt of popular ridicule, and the prospect of forging a new consensus on education policy in DC seems doubtful, you would think that everyone currently clamoring for education read more »A Graduation Gift by Sec. Kathleen Sebelius and Sec. Arne Duncan, Huffington Post | April 27, 2011
With graduation just around the corner, many of you are preparing to start a new chapter in your lives. With anticipation and perhaps a hint of nervousness, you are deciding where to live and what to do. But some of you also have a third question on your mind: where am I going to get health insurance? And the good news is you may not have to worry any longer. An important new provision in last year's health care law means that most young adults can now stay on their parents' health plan until age 26. read more »Graduating Off a Cliff: The Millennial Generation's Fight for Its Future by Van Jones and Lindsay McCluskey, Huffington Post | April 19, 2011
Four-hundred student leaders of all political persuasions rallied on Capitol Hill recently, demanding public investment in higher education. They held a press conference and conducted 100 congressional visits. Their message? "WTF." That's right. WTF. Where's the Funding? In the 1950s, college was practically free. Some of our parents and grandparents were able to attend a four-year state college for just $1,000 per year. That's tuition, room and board. This investment in education produced one of the greatest workforces in history and helped to create America's great middle class. Today all we hear about is cuts, cuts and more cuts. read more »Worthy Of a President by E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post | April 14, 2011
President Obama has finally decided to take his own side in the philosophical struggle that is the true engine of this nation’s budget debate. After months of mixed signals about what he was willing to fight for, Obama finally laid out his purposes and his principles. His approach has difficulties of its own, and much will depend on execution. But the president was unequivocal in arguing that the roots of our fiscal problems lie in the tax cuts of the past decade that we could not afford. And he raised the stakes in our politics to something more fundamental than dry numbers on a page or computer screen. There are at least four things to like about his approach. read more »The Republican Ignorance Agenda by Robin Lakoff, Huffington Post | March 31, 2011
Conservative Republicans have been very busy lately making inroads into teaching and learning at all levels —a curious program, especially at a time when more serious voices have been urging America to strengthen its investment in science and technology in order to remain globally competitive in the twenty-first century. One wonders what their oppositionism is really about. Perhaps conservatives realize that their attractiveness is dependent on ignorance at many levels and of many kinds: ignorance of the Constitution; ignorance of the benefits that unionization has brought to so many people; ignorance of the importance of science and technology in the modern world; ignorance of their own ignorance. If education is respected and strong, if teachers are autonomous, authoritative, and respected, ignorance cannot survive. If ignorance cannot survive, groups that thrive on it will not do well. read more »Every Child Left Behind by Robert J. Elisberg, Huffington Post | March 30, 2011
Several years ago, I had a realization: conservatives don't care about education. It's a generalization, I admit. And sounds outlandish. Yet for the past 60 years, conservatives have made crystal clear their utter disdain for education. Hoping to convince others. It began in 1952. When Dwight Eisenhower ran for president against Adlai Stevenson, the contemptuous attack Republicans made was that Stevenson was "an egghead." Someone who was really — smart. And you just can't trust those smart people. It's continued for 60 years, as conservatives have demeaned public education, pounding away at the national consciousness that learning for the masses is a bad thing to be scorned and mistrusted. read more »Flunking Teachers Gives the Ruling Class a Pass by OurFuture.org Staff, OurFuture.org | March 30, 2011
With all the evil people in the world, why are public schoolteachers being villainized? And how did they attract such powerful enemies? Some of the country’s best-known mainstream powers are blaming the teachers for the troubles of the public school system. Bill Gates is a leader in this, as is President Barack Obama’s education secretary, Arne Duncan. So are some operators of multibillion-dollar hedge funds. By putting the blame on teachers and their relatively modest salaries and benefits — compared with those of, say, a hedge fund entrepreneur — so-called reformers are evading the real cause of troubled schools: Business and political leaders, aided and abetted by the mass media, are unwilling to spend enough money to support public schools. Tax increases aren’t good for Microsoft, hedge funds or Obama’s re-election chances. read more »
The Latest
Grandparents Help With Back-To-School , USA Today | August 29, 2008
In the midst of one of the toughest back-to-school buying seasons in years, grandparents in many families are pitching in to get kids clothed. read more »
Army Opens Dropout Prep School, time.com | August 27, 2008
The U.S. Army, eager to fill its ranks amid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, formally opened its first prep school for dropouts. The soldiers work in small classrooms outfitted with simple desks, chairs, and dry-erase boards. In-desk computers are used for test-taking. read more »
Private Student Loans Scarce, USA Today | August 26, 2008
In recent months, several large lenders have stopped providing private student loans, stranding families that were counting on private loans to cover some of their costs. Education Finance Partners, the fourth-largest private lender, recently announced on its website that it had ceased operations. read more »
School Lunch Prices Rise, The New York Times | August 25, 2008
Prices on some school lunch lines are going up this fall as school officials, like many others, struggle to pay higher prices and delivery fees for staples like bread, milk, fresh fruit and vegetables. read more »
Sallie Mae Spent $640K Lobbying, money.cnn.com | August 19, 2008
Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student lender, spent $640,000 lobbying in the second quarter for government help to shore up the troubled student loan market and on legislation related to other issues affecting the industry, according to a recent disclosure report. read more »
More Families Need Reduced Lunch , USA Today | August 19, 2008
The troubled economy may be prompting more families to turn to federal school nutrition programs that aid poor children, a survey suggests. For the first time since 2004, a majority of cafeteria operators say the number of children getting free or reduced-price lunches has risen. read more »
Schools Adopt Four-Day Weeks, time.com | August 18, 2008
As the price of diesel — which most school buses run on — topped $4.70 per gal. last spring, school officials across the country watched their transportation costs skyrocket as much as 40 percent. Maryland's Montgomery County is debating whether to shrink its school-bus routes. read more »
Low-Income College Students Too Few, Christian Science Monitor | August 7, 2008
About 50 percent of low-income students enroll in college right after high school, compared with 80 percent of high-income students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That's a gap of 30 percentage points, a gap that over the past 30 years has fluctuated between 22 and 49 points. read more »
Poll: Schools Not Preparing Kids, USA Today | June 30, 2008
Half of Americans say U.S. schools are doing only a fair to poor job preparing kids for college and the work force. Even more feel that way about the skills kids need to survive as adults, according to a recent Associated Press poll. read more »
Food Prices Hit School Lunches, MSNBC News | June 9, 2008
The cost of staples that make up the backbone of school meal programs has soared in the past year, far outstripping federal subsidies. While inflation has driven up the price of milk by 12 percent, cheese by 15 percent and bread by 17 percent, the National School Lunch Program has increased what it pays local school districts to feed 30.1 million schoolchildren by only 3 percent. read more »
