NewsRack: 'Education Reform' news in 'US' topic for user newstrust

Open thread for night owls: Amy Goodman—Another Memorial Day in this endless war	25.5.2013	NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed
By Amy Goodman I n a remarkable but little-noticed oversight hearing last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee looked at “The Law of Armed Conflict, the Use of Military Force, and the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.” The 2001 AUMF is the act passed by Congress on Sept. 14, three days after the al-Qaida attacks on the United States. Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, opened his questioning of the military officials before him by stating: “Gentlemen, I’ve only been here five months, but this is the most astounding and most astoundingly disturbing hearing that I’ve been to since I’ve been here. You guys have essentially rewritten the Constitution here today.” King’s statement followed the questioning by longtime South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who recently pushed to have the Boston bombing suspect—a U.S. citizen accused of a violent crime on U.S. soil—named an “enemy combatant,” denying him his constitutional rights. Graham enjoyed unanimous ...
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Dayton vetoes $1.5 million for Teach For America	25.5.2013	Star Tribune: Latest
Governor says such spending should have open competition
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State school API rankings: South Bay and Peninsula have highs and lows	25.5.2013	San Jose Mercury News: Education
In semiannual Academic Performance Index scores released Friday, South Bay and Peninsula schools showed a wide range of results, with many ranked at the top, but also a significant number showing up in the bottom levels.
Economics Daily Digest: The real (student) debt crisis	24.5.2013	Daily Kos
By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal Click here to receive the Daily Digest via email. Nobel winner: Cut student loan rates ( USA Today ) Roosevelt Institute Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz says he backs Elizabeth Warren's plan to let students borrow at the same discount rate as banks because student debt is holding back our economy, especially compared to countries that are actually doing something about it. Roosevelt Take: The Roosevelt Institute \| Campus Network's policy report "A New Deal For Students" lays out concrete and innovative policy solutions from students to solve the student debt crisis. Donors Urge Cuomo to Press for Public Financing of State Campaigns ( NYT ) Thomas Kaplan talks to Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Ellen Chesler and others who feel public campaign financing is necessary to combat an unusual form of peer pressure—the kind the wealthy exert on politicians. According to Chesler, it's a moral issue. In one chart: we have ...
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Unions target board members after they close nearly 11% of Chicago's elementary schools	24.5.2013	NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed
Barbara Byrd-Bennett As they have for months, protesters objected to the closings Wednesday and tried to sit in at the meeting of the six-member school board. But security officers ushered them out. They aren't done with their protests yet, but they are readjusting their tactics : A day after school officials approved shutting down 50 schools, the Chicago Teachers Union and community activists say they'll hold a voter registration and education campaign. The union is agitated that Mayor Rahm Emanuel, school board members and some lawmakers failed to listen to parents, teachers and others who called for the schools to remain open. [...] Sonya Williams, a parent who had come to testify in defense of her school, said she understood the passion and the outbursts. "It's just like going to a long funeral and no one will close the casket yet," she said. "The fate of your position, the fate of your job, the fate of your children are up in the air, and they're based on a few people making a ...
Conn. makes $5M available for school safety	24.5.2013	Boston Globe: Latest
Conn. makes $5M available for school safety
Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Welcome back, Tom Tancredo!	24.5.2013	Daily Kos
Want the scoop on hot races around the country? Get the digest emailed to you each weekday morning. Sign up here . • CO-Gov : Aww yeah! Ex-Rep. Tom Tancredo, whose maximally anti-immigrant zealotry makes him exactly who the Colorado GOP does not want as their standard-bearer, just declared that he's going to make a second run for governor. I admit I'm surprised at this turn of events, since Tancredo only first publicly mooted the idea last week , and even he said that he wasn't seriously considering the race. But Tancredo says he was motivated by Gov. John Hickenlooper's decision to temporarily stay the execution of a convicted murderer, as well as new gun safety legislation signed into law earlier this year. It's immigration, though, where Tancredo has always shined brightest , and even if he doesn't capture the Republican nomination, he's very likely to pull the entire field rightward on the issue. That would be dangerous for whomever emerges with the brass ring. So far, the only other ...
Open thread for night owls: Wheeler—Closing Gitmo is not enough	24.5.2013	Daily Kos
Four years ago, President Obama gave a seminal counterterrorism speech in front of the Constitution arguing we “uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and it keeps us safe.” Today, amid controversies over his Administration’s killing of American citizens in drone strikes, efforts to break hunger strikes by Guantanamo Bay detainees who have long been cleared for transfer, and seizures of the call records of national security journalists, Obama tried to reclaim those cherished values in his fight against terror. Marcy Wheeler In a speech at the National Defense University, Obama tried to redefine that fight and at least rhetorically end the war. “We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us, mindful of James Madison’s warning that ‘No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.’” In the speech, Obama proposed a number of policies that would return us closer ...
Cleared of charges after explosion, Florida teen gets full scholarship to space academy	23.5.2013	Daily Kos
Kiera, 16-year-old junior, was arrested after the incident, which happened outside about 15 minutes before the school day began. No one was hurt, nor did she cause any damage. The school's resource officer arrested her on two possible felony charges, possessing a weapon on campus and discharging a destructive device. Kiera was suspended for 10 days, sent to an alternative school, which she still attends, and told she faced expulsion. The explosion struck a chord with 18-year NASA veteran Homer Hickam, a former lead astronaut training manager for Spacelab, and later for the International Space Station. In the late 1950s, Hickam had a brush with law enforcement for allegedly starting a forest fire. State police came to his high school and led him and his friends away in handcuffs, but his high school physics professor and school principal came to the rescue, clearing him of wrongdoing. "I couldn't let this go without doing something," Hickam said. "I'm not a lawyer, but I could give her ...
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Report: Nation’s kids need to get more physical	23.5.2013	Salt Lake Tribune
by Jennifer C. Kerr The Associated Press Published May 23, 2013 11:30AM MDT Reading, writing, arithmetic — and PE? The prestigious Institute of Medicine is recommending that schools provide opportunities for at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day for students and that PE become a core subject. The report, released Thursday, says only about half of the nation’s youngsters are getting at least an hour of vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activity every day. Another concern, the report says, is that 44 percent of school administrators report slashing big c... ...
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Report: Nation's kids need to get more physical	23.5.2013	AP Politics
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Reading, writing, arithmetic - and PE?...
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White House would veto Republican-sponsored bait-and-switch student loan interest bill	23.5.2013	Daily Kos
First, the bill would not guarantee low rates for today's students. A rate that continues to vary after the loan has already been taken out would create uncertainty and lessen transparency for students and their families who are making decisions about borrowing for college. Second, the bill's changes would impose the largest interest rate increases on low- and middle-income students and families who struggle most to afford a college education. Third, the bill does not include the President's proposal to extend repayment options to borrowers who have already left school and often face the same debt burdens as current and future students. Finally, the Administration believes that student loan interest rates should not be raised to reduce the deficit. The bill was introduced by Republican Rep. John Kline of Minnesota and has five co-sponsors. Opposition isn't confined to the White House. Kline's proposal has sparked vigorous Democratic opposition. Rep. George Miller of California has presented an ...
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Obama announces new policies on drone program in counterterrorism speech	23.5.2013	Daily Kos
You can watch the speech live in the video embedded at the top of this post. We'll post a copy of the president's speech when it becomes available. 11:03 AM PT : Here are the president's remarks , as prepared for delivery. 11:12 AM PT : Here's the administration's fact sheet accompanying the president's speech. ...
World Briefs (Cached)	23.5.2013	Durango Herald
Polish man gets face transplant after injuryWARSAW 8211 A 33-year-old Polish man received a face transplant just three weeks after being disfigured in a workplace accident, in what his doctors said Wednesday is the fastest time frame to date for such an operation. It was Poland8217s first face transplant.Face transplants...
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Tuition fee 'could be cut to £6,000'	23.5.2013	BBC: Front Page
Tuition fees in England could be limited to £6,000 per year and remain cost-neutral to universities and the Treasury, research suggests.
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Tennessee now evenly split on marriage equality; nearly 2/3 support benefits to same-sex partners	22.5.2013	Daily Kos
A poll conducted this month for Vanderbilt University found that 49 percent of Tennesseans support gay marriage or civil unions while 46 percent are opposed to both, suggesting the state is now evenly divided on whether to extend legal recognition to same-sex couples. Meanwhile, 62 percent of Tennesseans say health insurance and other employee benefits should be extended to the domestic partners or spouses of gays and lesbians. Thirty-one percent oppose the idea. ...
Rahm Emanuel: Our responsibility to Chicago's youngest generation	22.5.2013	Chicago Tribune: Opinion
Rahm Emanuel: Our responsibility to Chicago's youngest generation
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Unmasking Chile's hooded protesters	22.5.2013	BBC: Front Page
Spotlight on Chile's masked protest movement
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Teachers as first responders, as protectors, and as heroes	22.5.2013	Daily Kos
Plaza Towers Elementary School [Rhonda Crosswhite], a sixth-grade teacher at the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla. — a building that took a powerful hit from the storm — covered six students with her body, lying on top of them in one of the school's bathroom stalls when the building, a she put it, "just started coming down." The walls started falling in on them, so she jumped on top of them, shielding them with her body. After the storm had passed, Evans pulled children from the destroyed building. But she still doesn't know how many of them survived. "We had to pull a car off a teacher and she had three little kids underneath her," one first responder, in tears, told KFOR. "Good job, teach." As students emerged from hiding, many were stunned by what they saw. Teachers carried the children away from the worst of the wreckage, comforting them until thankful parents took over. For more discussion, see catilinus' diary . ...
Trib Talk: Is the Common Core an upgrade or move to ‘cookie-cutter’ education?	22.5.2013	Salt Lake Tribune
the Salt Lake Tribune Published May 21, 2013 02:50PM MDT State Board of Education Chairwoman Debra Roberts on Tuesday urged opponents of Common Core educational standards and new computer testing to “let go of this political posturing and recognize what we can do to transform education here in Utah.” “This is great stuff. Let’s work together to meet the needs of our children,” Roberts said during a live video Trib Talk with Dalane England of the Utah Eagle Forum, moderator Jennifer Napier-Pearce of The Salt Lake Tribune and Tribune education reporter... ...

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