A divided Kansas City school board voted Wednesday night to move ahead with a historic plan to close nearly half the city’s schools. The plan will close 26 schools and leave the district operating 33 schools, the fewest in 120 years.
The district’s current enrollment is approximately 18,000- the lowest enrollment since 1889. At its peak in the [...]
In the March 12th edition of the New York Times, James C. McKinley Jr. reports on the changes the The Texas Board of Education approved (approved–not simply suggested) to the history and economics textbooks used in Texas.
McKinley writes, “[the] curriculum will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, [...]
On Saturday, in his weekly address, President Obama introduced his plan to overhaul No Child Left Behind. Obama introduced the plan as ”the best chance [for American students] to succeed in a changing world.”
What the key players say:
Obama: “[T]he nation that out-educates us today will out-compete us tomorrow.”
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, said that No Child Left [...]
The Washington Post is reporting that students at Winston Churchill (Potomac, MD) hacked into the school’s computer system and changed class grades.
Grades for 54 students were improperly altered in the first semester of this school year.
To see the entire Post article, click below.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/03/AR2010030303047.html?hpid=newswell
By Carly Loman
It is rare when an entire class period goes by without a single mention of college. Whether it be the girl with purple bags under her eyes and red bull in her hand triumphantly declaring, “I made the deadline!” before slipping out of consciousness, or the young man running into class ten minutes [...]
by Clara Modlin
Lately I’ve been thinking about the differences in between school systems. Where I used to live, France, the teachers were strict. They did not hesitate at calling us stupid, idiots, or (and this was not rare) mentally retarded. The system was rigorous. We had a college-type schedule, having two hours of French on Monday, none on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays, and then three on Fridays.
If you were absent for a test, there were no retakes. You just got an ‘absent’ on your report card. The schools weren’t afraid about holding people back. ‘Left-backs’ were much more common in France then they are here; the French feel no sympathy for you in school.
As you can see, the American school system is almost a complete opposite of this system. Teachers here don’t call you idiots; they manage to imply that you could have done a better job and they are disappointed in you. They are much nicer in general. My meanest teacher here, in this country, is nothing compared to my math teacher in France….
