School budgets have been stretched tight with the nation’s recent economic recession. Last year in my hometown, Wichita, KS, several schools were forced to give up yearly field trips. And this year, the school district is proposing to do away with driver’s education. Hopefully with Obama’s Race to the Top competition, some states will be able to lessen this financial strain.

As of July 27, eighteen states and the District of Columbia could win part of the $3.4 billion in education grants to assist in an overhaul of education policies.

In this second round of the competition, federal officials say they anticipate 10 to 15 winners that will receive federal financing. The winning states will be revealed in September.

Here are the 19 finalists: Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina. Read the rest of this entry »

I remember watching the clock tick ever so slowly as the school day came to an end. I, like my fellow classmates, couldn’t wait until 3 p.m. But now, some students will have to watch the clock tick all the way to 5 p.m.
 
President Obama, along with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, have been pushing for a lengthier school day. Duncan wants American children to keep up with other schools around the world.

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Schools out for summer and across America kids are dreaming of ice cream trucks and afternoon snacks of junk food binges.

So naturally, our nation’s leaders are nervous about the tendency of education backslide and the natural plunge into awful eating habits. Especially since reports have shown that an estimated one-third of American children are overweight or obese.

As a result, first lady Michelle Obama, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, collaborated on a new campaign to undertake childhood obesity, specifically targeting summer break.

Members of the Obama cabinet joined her in unveiling the administration’s “Lets Read. Lets Move.” campaign. In cooperation with the Corporation for National and Community Service, the project’s goal is to encourage continued reading (specifically the program aims for children to read five books during summer vacation), exercise frequently and a maintain healthy lifestyle. Read the rest of this entry »

During a time with record high unemployment rates, graduating seniors are looking forward to the advice of their college commencement speakers regarding their professional pursuits and for motivation for success in the highly competitive American job market.

Here is a list of some of the nation’s highlighted commencement speakers:

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A dozen wealthy foundations have announced that they will be collaborating to donate $506 million to match the federal grant funding program Investing in Innovation.

The foundations specifically are looking to invest in programs that encourage innovation in the classroom and also create new and innovative ideas for strengthening low-performing schools.

The foundations supporting the Investing in Innovation program include the following:

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The U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has high expectations for college basketball players. Duncan recently stated his opinion that if at least 40 percent of a college’s players do not graduate, that team should be banned from any NCAA tournament. Duncan’s statement was based off the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport’s annual report of graduation rates for NCAA basketball teams. This report showed several of the top teams in the nation as being at the bottom of the list.

However, does graduation rate really matter when you are talking about college basketball players? The University of Maryland coach Gary Williams doesn’t think so:

“Obviously, those years we had players leave early and they’re millionaires now, and they’re coming back to get their degrees, just like other guys have come back and gotten their degrees,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine this: Jenny Smith is a second-year teacher at a Happytown Elementary. Her students have been acing every standardized test they take. Smith is so proud of her students. But Smith isn’t the only one who is proud of the people who have learned from her; the college that Smith earned her degree from is also benefiting from the improved scores on her students’ tests.

On the opposite end of the spectrum: Jake Snow is another new teacher at Frownyville Middle School. His students’ test scores have been falling every year that he has been teaching. And now, the university where Snow graduated from is being scrutinized to see if they are adequately training their students.

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There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Race to the Top program. Which states have already applied for funding? Which states are not going to apply? Is it too political? Is it expecting too much of teachers? What exactly is it? The Race to the Top program is a $4 billion grant program created by the Department of Education and signed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. 

It was created to encourage states to assess and improve students’ education and performance. It is also intended to enable schools to hire and keep high-quality teachers. States must apply for the funding, and if they qualify, they could receive up to $700 million to improve their schools.

States are evaluated on several criteria. The biggest factor is if they have “a comprehensive and coherent reform agenda.” The quality of the teachers and having common standards are also factors used during the evaluation process.

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President Obama’s health care program may not be popular among certain Americans, but his desire to eliminate summer vacation will render him an easy target among all American school children.

Earlier this year we reported that President Obama proposed longer school days, and recent buzz indicates he’s still at it. The President wants American children to be better prepared to compete with children worldwide who spend on average 30 percent more time in school than American kids. Along with his Education Secretary Arne Duncan, President Obama believes that the current American academic calendar year is antiquated and was created when the country was primarily an agrarian culture; but since very few families toil in the fields all day, the Obama Administration is on a quest to develop the minds of American children by extending their time in school in order to keep them on par with the minds of millions of children around the globe. Read the rest of this entry »

I had to fill out the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, when I was a high school senior. It had 153 questions and took me several hours to complete. Many of my friends did not even bother filling it out just because it was too complex. It was a nightmare!

President Obama must also see the FAFSA as a monstrosity. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are recreating the form to make it more “user-friendly.” By doing so, they hope to make it easier for more students to apply for and receive financial aid, therefore enabling more students to attend college. Duncan said the goal is to increase college enrollment levels among lower income students. Read the rest of this entry »