Education and Poverty Commentaries
Posted January 30, 2012
"One in eight children in Michigan lives in a household grappling with job loss and one in every 20 has had his or her life disrupted by a home foreclosure. This year, as in previous years, creating an economic climate that leads to more jobs remains the top priority for our governor and lawmakers. An emphasis on educating kids and putting their parents back to work is the best weapon for fighting poverty."
Posted January 17, 2012
Posted January 11, 2012
Posted January 9, 2012
" Preschool for disadvantaged children should not be another casualty of the budget wars."
"The result is that many schools would experience no layoffs, while high-poverty schools would have to shoulder a cycle of turnover and instability that would add to their challenges."
Posted January 3, 2012
"President Obama's remarks on inequality, stoking populist anger at 'the rich,' suggest that the theme for his reelection bid will be not hope and change but focus on reducing class disparity with government help. But this effort isn't limited to economics; it is playing out in our nation's schools as well."
"No one seriously disputes the fact that students from disadvantaged households perform less well in school, on average, than their peers from more advantaged backgrounds. But rather than confront this fact of life head-on, our policy makers mistakenly continue to reason that, since they cannot change the backgrounds of students, they should focus on things they can control."
"The mayor never cites any research to support his claims about what’s a good deal for students. Nor does he explain a sensible way to determine the bottom half of teachers — the ones who would be sent packing."
"Universities want to climb the US News & World Report ladder. And the surest way to do that -- expensive though it may be -- is to attract more and better applicants and reject all but the most qualified. Investing in a pipeline that also serves your competitors seems counterproductive. So why should a university care about this project? Three reasons are worth considering: money, mission and morals."
Posted November 7, 2011
"Low-income students, those eligible for free and reduced-cost lunch, have increased by about 60 percent in both districts. Currently, 26 percent of Red Bank students and 14 percent of Freehold students have limited English proficiency."
"Given a student population that is 86 percent low-income and behind academically, it is shameful how long Chicago has carried on with a diminished schedule. Emanuel has gone after the longer-day prize in his signature, take-no-prisoners way."
Posted October 3, 2011
"In return for a substantial hike in funds to help schools serve low-income students, states must measure how all their schools are doing, based on the state's education standards."
"Almost everyone has felt the effects of the Great Recession but, without question, it has hit those on the lower end of the economic spectrum the hardest. In Florida, one in six people is living in poverty, the highest that measure has been in more than a decade, the Miami Herald reported earlier this month."
"The goal was to make sure no schools served students drawn mostly from lower-income families. Absent costly extra resources, high-poverty schools apply a further drag on academic success among children who typically deal with more than their share of challenges already."
"'We have people who want to tell people poverty doesn't exist,' declared Eugene White, superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools. 'These are people who woke up on third base and thought they hit a triple.'"
"Rising poverty, coupled with the state's changing demographics, poses a daunting challenge for public policy and Michigan's future. Michigan's population is becoming more diverse, with whites expected to become the state's largest minority group in just over 30 years."
Posted September 19, 2011
" Last year, the University of Colorado enrolled 4,082 minority students - a record number. CU's student body across all campuses is 19 percent minority. Colorado State University enrolled 1,609 low-income and ethnically diverse students in 2010."
"She has come to adopt the party-line view of the most change-averse elements of the teachers' unions: There is no education crisis. Poverty is the real issue, not bad schools. We don't need fundamental reform; we mainly need to give teachers more money and job security."
"In this latest attempt to inject themselves into what should be a doctor-patient decision, some lawmakers tried to prevent low-income women from obtaining abortions when the fetuses had serious abnormalities."
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