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Public Education Is A Labor Issue, Even If You Don't Care About Teachers by Laura Clawson, dailykos.com | July 9, 2012
This year's students are the workers of five or 10 or 15 years from now. There's an obvious statement for you, but it's one that is too rarely considered in discussions of education policy as hedge funders and corporate billionaires try to claim the mantle of doing what's right for kids, implying or saying straight out that teachers are too self-interested to represent kids and should be left out of the discussion altogether. The fundamental question is this: If you don't trust Wall Street or the Walton family to do what's in your best interest as an adult in the American workforce, why would you trust them to do what's in the best interest of the next generation of workers? read more »Doesn’t “Religion” Mean “Conservative Christian?” by Ed Kilgore, Washington Monthly | July 6, 2012
The ongoing fiasco of Bobby Jindal’s “let the parents decide” voucher program in Louisiana is finally beginning to get some national media attention, for the simple reason that its logic is carrying it in directions that horrify its strongest proponents and intended beneficiaries. So down plunges the Pelican State into the political and constitutional thicket of how to shovel money to conservative evangelical schools without looking too closely at what they are teaching, while at the same time keeping away schools that conservative evangelicals hate and fear. read more »Conservatives: Saving America's Youth From "Overeducation" by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | June 29, 2012
Now that our "do nothing" Congress is finally set to "do something" to stop interest on student loans from doubling, I think I’ve finally figured out what motivates conservatives on education in general, and conservative opposition to student loans in general. Conservatives are fighting to save our children - your children, my children, America’s children - from a fate worse than collective bargaining. Conservatives are fighting to save America’s youth from being "overeducated." Say what? "Overeducated"? What does that even mean? I used to think it meant having more education than available jobs require; like the students graduating off a cliff, into a market where most of the jobs being created are low wage jobs, as jobs in the middle of the income and skill spectrum are hollowed by the recession. In other words, I used to think "overeducated" was the flip-side of "underemployed." Then, Rush Limbaugh set me straight. read more »Public Education's 'Shock Doctrine Summer' Rolls Out, Part 2 by Jeff Bryant, OurFuture.org | June 28, 2012
With the glow of high school graduations still lingering in many American families, and analysts predicting that an"economic recovery" is on the way, this is a time when you'd expect to start hearing more positive news about the state of US public education. You'd be wrong. read more »Conservatives to Students: Drop Dead! by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | June 25, 2012
Never mind "class warfare." Generational warfare continues apace, this time in the editorial pages of the Washington Post, which echoed the conservative message to young (and older) Americans struggling with student debt: Drop dead. read more »The Technocratization of Public Education by Prof. James F. Tracy, globalresearch.ca | June 18, 2012
In modern America the ability of working and middle class people to think for themselves and articulate ideas in opposition to a genetically, financially and demonstrably superior elite is not required. Discuss read more »Death and Student Debt by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | June 15, 2012
Collection agencies do not make condolence calls. I understand this, believe me. But there are certain events in life during which people deserve to be treated with more than standard human decency. (Yes, I realize I'm pretending that treating people with human decency is standard these days. Humor me.) A death in the family — especially the death of a child — is one of those times. Or at least it used to be. The story of Francisco Reynoso's struggle to pay off his dead son's student loans, while dealing with collection agencies in the midst of his grief, suggests that times are changing. And not for the better. read more »Democrats Must Oppose Republicans On Education by Jeff Bryant, OurFuture.org | June 15, 2012
A funny thing happened on the way to the news cycle the past two weeks when the issue of education -- specifically, public schoolteachers and student loan relief -- maintained a presence on the political stage. read more »Romney’s Educational Tax Raid by Ed Kilgore, Washington Monthly | June 13, 2012
I was remiss in not writing earlier about Mitt Romney’s big K-12 education initiative, which basically just involves taking all the existing federal money spent for this purpose and tossing it out there as a hand grenade designed for the destruction of public schools. While the Obama administration has committed itself (to its own political peril) to the standards-and-accountability movement aimed at using federal dollars to leverage measurable improvements in low-performing public schools—a movement once championed by Republicans—Romney is moving in the opposite direction, proposing to turn over all those highly conditional taxpayer dollars to parents for use however and wherever they want, with zero accountability for results other than via abstract market forces. The primary beneficiaries, of course, will be private schools that will pocket public subsidies and do whatever they choose. read more »Hey Mitt, Leave Our Teachers Alone by Terrance Heath, OurFuture.org | June 13, 2012
Yesterday was the last day of school for public school students in Montgomery County, Maryland, where we live — including our nine-year-old son, who just completed the third grade. I began the morning by sending a one last email to his teacher. I asked her about the summer reading and math packets we were expecting our son to bring. I also thanked her for all the work she'd done to help our son this year. As I thought about how much our son has grown and improved over the past year, and how very much the dedicated teachers and staff at his school had to do with those changes, I couldn't help being mystified at Mitt Romney's assertion that our children need fewer teachers. Mystified, that is, but not surprised. read more »
The Latest
Kids Less Likely to Graduate Than Parents, Associated Press | October 24, 2008
Your child is less likely to graduate from high school than you were, and most states are doing little to hold schools accountable, according to a study by a children's advocacy group. More than half the states have graduation targets that don't make schools get better, the Education Trust says in a report released. more »
Schools Hiring Foreign Teachers, USA Today | October 23, 2008
A growing number of school districts are hiring teachers from foreign countries to fill shortages in math, science and special education. The trend is most evident in poor urban and rural districts, according to educators. more »
Students Eye Cheaper Colleges, Christian Science Monitor | October 22, 2008
The nation's financial crisis is forcing college students and college applicants to take a long, hard look at what they can afford and what value they place on investing in higher education. For some, college will now have to be a dream deferred. Others are adjusting their dream to trim costs. more »
Crisis Hits Student Loans, mcclatchydc.com | October 20, 2008
Last week, university officials across the country received a sobering letter from Sallie Mae, the nation's leading provider of student loans. "Because of the continuing turmoil and uncertainty in the credit markets, Sallie Mae has made the difficult decision to tighten the underwriting on all our private student loan products, which will require applicants to meet higher credit standards. more »
Families Struggle with Tuition, The New York Times | October 17, 2008
In difficult dinner-table conversations, college students and their parents are revisiting how to pay tuition as personal finances weaken and lenders get tough. With the unemployment rate rising and a recession mentality gripping the country, financial aid administrators say they expect many more calls from families seeking help. more »
Draft Security Deal Ready in Iraq, USA Today | October 15, 2008
U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have agreed on a draft security pact that would govern the presence of American troops in Iraq after January, Bush administration officials say, but its final approval is far from certain. The draft calls for U.S. troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by the end of June next year and leave Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011, unless the Baghdad government asks them to stay. more »
Colleges Hit By Credit Crisis, time.com | October 9, 2008
Last week, nearly 1,000 colleges were told they couldn't access most of the $9.3 billion sitting in a short-term fund that had been offering slightly higher returns than U.S. treasuries. more »
Group Demands Student Aid Overhaul, USA Today | September 18, 2008
A group of college financial aid experts is calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the federal student aid system, including simplifying the application process and helping low-income parents save for their children's education. more »
Pell Grants Said to Face a Shortfall of $6 Billion, The New York Times | September 17, 2008
Bush administration officials to warn Congress that the most important federal aid program, Pell Grants, may need up to $6 billion in additional taxpayer funds next year. Driving the increased applications for federal aid, in part, have been nontraditional students returning to school to improve their job skills during the economic downturn. more »
House Moves to Protect Student Loans, Associated Press | September 16, 2008
Federal authority to protect student borrowers from getting squeezed by the current credit crunch would be extended a year under legislation passed by the House. The measure, approved 368-4, continues the secretary of education's power to purchase loans from lenders in the federal guaranteed loan program when lenders are unable to meet demand. The current authority expires in July. more »
