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On Education, Santorum Flunks History by Jeff Madrick, newdeal20.org | February 28, 2012
Rick Santorum has found a new populist voice in criticizing Obama’s “theology.” He claims he does not mean Obama is not a Christian, but apparently his belief in a number of progressive policies, including formal schooling for Americans, violates Santorum’s deeply held theological views. Pandering to ignorance is not new with Santorum. But surely the candidate determined to be the candidate of the working class has reached a new low. And he has given those who are sincerely religious a bad name. His misunderstanding of American history and how the economy grew is more than stunning. In recent remarks, Santorum praises home schooling, claiming that with the rise of factories, Americans had to go to formal schools that were like factories. Public school is an anachronism, he says. But formal schooling is about as American a virtue as there is. Has Santorum read any American history? read more »Why Teaching People to Think for Themselves Is Repugnant to Religious Zealots and Rick Santorum by Henry A. Giroux, truth-out.org | February 22, 2012
Right-wing fundamentalists such as Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum hate public schools, which he suggests are government schools wedded to doing the work of Satan, dressed up in the garb of the Enlightenment. Santorum, true to his love affair with the very secular ideology of privatization, prefers home schooling, which is code for people taking responsibility for whatever social issues or problems they may face, whether it be finding the best education for their children or securing decent health care. Actually, Santorum and many of his allies dislike any public institution that enables people to think critically and act with a degree of responsibility toward the public. This is one reason why they hate any notion of public education, which harbors the promise, if not the threat, of actually educating students to be thoughtful, self-reflective and capable of questioning so-called common sense and holding power accountable. read more »Sam Brownback's Anti-Poor Agenda by Abby Rapoport, prospect.org | February 9, 2012
The GOP presidential primary has offered some odd debates on who cares about the "very poor" and whether there should be a "safety net" or a "trampoline" to help people get out of poverty. Meanwhile, in Kansas, it seems Governor Sam Brownback is hoping to dig a bigger hole for the poor fall into. Between his tax plans and his approaches to school funding, Brownback's agenda overtly boosts the wealthy and makes things harder for the poor. While many liberals speculate this to be a secret goal, Brownback is hardly making a secret of his agenda. read more »Can Education Be a Driver of Equality? by Bryce Covert, newdeal20.org | February 2, 2012
Education was rightly big on Obama’s agenda in his State of the Union address last week. As he noted, “[T]o prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earl[y].” He proposed solutions to getting better outcomes from kindergarten to higher ed. But his eyes were mostly on containing the system we have. Yet on a more general level, we’re still having a conversation as a country about what we mean when we say that we owe every child a decent education. We’re currently trying to fix an issue fundamentally about social justice by focusing on accountability, competition, and choice. A conversation about values — the purpose of education and what it should bring each child — is lacking. Why do we educate children? Is the end goal a higher salary? High test scores? Or something else? read more »Future of U.S. Manufacturing Begins With Education by George Koo, newamericamedia.org | January 30, 2012
In his State of the Union, President Obama stressed the importance of keeping manufacturing in America. The reasoning is that in order to continue to innovate and develop the next generation must-have products, the U.S. needs manufacturing that uses leading edge technology. Nothing wrong with the reasoning, but it may be too late. A lengthy analysis on why jobs are flowing to China based on the Apple iPhone experience appeared in the New York Times. One of the most important findings was that America simply no longer has the skill sets to meet Apple’s demands for a high quality, technology product. America has lost the edge to make things. The training programs Obama talked about might serve as temporary Band-Aids that might keep certain production from leaving in the short term. But to maintain a world leadership position, the U.S. will need far more technicians, engineers and scientists than the country is producing. read more »Obama’s SOTU Captures the Millennial Mindset by Adin Lenchmer, newdeal20.org | January 25, 2012
Last night, listening to the State of the Union, I felt really proud of my president. I felt inspired. He spoke to me as a member of the Millennial generation. There seems to be a lot of chatter in politics about how to help out my cohort — talk of how to save my generation from a dystopian future of mountains of federal debt, an oppressive federal health care system, and illegal immigrants stealing our jobs. Last night, President Obama showed that he understood that this kind of rhetoric is not what my generation needs. Fairness is at the heart of the solution. Millennials know it, and the president gets it. He also understands that fairness is not merely a virtue to aspire to, but a core value that we can tangibly work on — and one that is at the center of what makes our country as strong and resilient as it is. read more »No Child Left Behind Turns 10 Facing Mixed Results And Uncertain Future by Joy Resmovits, Huffington Post | January 5, 2012
When President George W. Bush joined congressmen John Boehner, George Miller and Edward Kennedy to sign the No Child Left Behind Act in January 2002, he touted the moment as a bipartisan victory for America's children. "Today begins a new era, a new time in public education in our country," Bush proclaimed in Princeton, N.J., as he signed the bill into law on Jan. 8, 2002. "As of this hour, America's schools will be on a new path of reform, and a new path of results." But 10 years later, results matching Bush's rhetoric haven't yet arrived — and the law itself is unlikely to change any time soon. read more »Progressive Breakfast by Isaiah J. Poole, OurFuture.org | January 5, 2012
On the menu this morning: Morning Message: America's Family Un-Friendly Economy Bulldozing Obstruction: Obama's Recess Appointments Fixing Our Dysfunctional Economy Conservative Crazy: The GOP Primary Circus Continues Right-Wing Watch read more »I Said No to My Student Loan: One Borrower's Decision to Stop Paying by Natalia Antonova, alternet.org | December 5, 2011
I’ve been in a panic these last few months. Making minimum payments on my student loans was no longer merely a challenge – it was getting impossible. After making some awful sacrifices to refrain from defaulting, I’m in a corner. I am aware of the total lack of consumer protection associated with student debt. I knew that if I was unable to make my minimum payments, they would hit me with late fees, penalties, etc. They would harass me. In ruining my credit history, they would make it impossible for me to get access to basic services. Forget about taking out another loan – I’m talking about not being able to rent an apartment. And defaulting would not only mean a ruined credit history, it would mean that my debt would double, triple, quadruple, etc…I would be a slave forever. But I took a long, hard look at the numbers, and I realized that I am already a slave. read more »How Students Landed on the Front Lines of Class War by Juan Cole, truthdig.com | November 23, 2011
The deliberate pepper-spraying by campus police of nonviolent protesters at UC Davis on Friday has provoked national outrage. But the horrific incident must not cloud the real question: What led comfortable, bright, middle-class students to join the Occupy protest movement against income inequality and big-money politics in the first place? University students, who face tuition hikes and state cuts to public education, find themselves victimized by the same neoliberal agenda that has created the current economic crisis, and which profoundly endangers democratic values. read more »
The Latest
Student Loan Industry Pushes Back, The Washington Post | April 14, 2009
With the Obama administration proposing to overhaul the programs a majority of American students use to finance their college education, the student loan industry is fighting back. read more »
White House Reaches Out to D.C. Schools, Associated Press | April 13, 2009
District of Columbia students are a familiar sight at the White House since Barack Obama became president on Jan. 20. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the White House is reaching out to support the efforts of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and schools superintendent Michelle Rhee, who are taking aggressive steps to turn around Washington's struggling schools. read more »
Community Colleges Gain Importance, | April 12, 2009
In Pennsylvania, all 14 community colleges are offering or finalizing plans for tuition assistance to locals who've lost jobs. More than 1,000 people are already signed up, says Diane Bosak, executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges. read more »
School Aid Doesn't Always Match Needs, iht.com | March 22, 2009
In pouring rivers of cash into U.S. states and school districts, Washington is using a tangle of well-worn government formulas, some of which benefit states that spend more per pupil, while others help states with large concentrations of poor students or simply channel money based on population. read more »
More Career Switchers Become Educators, USA Today | March 22, 2009
Plenty of people dream of leaving their jobs to become teachers. Today, more people are actually doing it. These teachers, with real-life experience and often with deep knowledge of their subjects, are answering a call to service that is part of a strategy to dramatically boost the size and quality of the teaching workforce. read more »
Teacher 'Performance Pay' Considered., Christian Science Monitor | March 18, 2009
Performance pay is one of several areas getting attention right now as education reformers zero in on high-quality teaching as the key to helping students learn. The thinking goes like this: It takes good teachers to improve student achievement, and it will take better pay to lure and keep good teachers. Critics, including many unions, point to several issues. read more »
College Study Finds Two-Year 'Penalty', USA Today | March 17, 2009
Most workers who have a degree from a community college can earn more than a person who had no formal training after high school. And even if they never complete a two-year degree, students who attend some community college can get higher-paying jobs. But what if that student goes on to earn a bachelor's? read more »
School Wrestle With Spending Stimulus Funds, Christian Science Monitor | March 17, 2009
At the heart of President Obama's historic $787 billion economic stimulus program is a tough choice for educators: Do states and local school districts use the $100 billion spike in federal aid to do new things for kids or mainly to backfill the status quo? The Obama administration is calling on schools to do both. read more »
Schools Turn to Massive Layoffs, Reuters | March 13, 2009
Some U.S. public school districts are turning to mass layoffs of teachers and support staff to ease ballooning deficits in the latest sign of how the recession is hurting ordinary Americans. The Los Angeles Unified School District -- the nation's second largest -- will issue preliminary layoff notices to nearly 9,000 staff members, including teachers. read more »
Layoffs Come to Sesame Street, USA Today | March 12, 2009
The crisis on Wall Street is plaguing Sesame Street. Sesame Workshop, the non-profit producer of Sesame Street and other kids' programs, is cutting about one-fifth of its workforce because of the economic downturn. The company said that it's eliminating 67 of 355 staff positions. read more »
