Free Republic

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV Metro News) -- Kanawha County state Senator Erik Wells took on the state's two teacher unions Thursday, accusing them of being more interested in pay than students' education. "We have to change," an emotional Wells said during a Senate Finance Committee meeting Thursday. "I get tired of the WVEA and the AFT always talking about pay and not about kids." Wells made the comments as he pushed for legislation that would allow for the creation of charter schools. Wells and other supporters say charter schools would clear out much of the typical public education bureaucracy, allowing innovation...

A number of student groups at the University of Notre Dame issued a statement today repudiating the University’s selection of President Barack Obama to deliver its 2009 Commencement Address. The statement criticizes the president’s position on abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and other life issues, and chastises University administration for apparently looking over what they termed "fundamental moral principles." The statement responds to Friday afternoon’s announcement of Obama as the speaker for the University’s 164th Commencement. Citing Catholic teaching on abortion, as well as the US Bishops’ 2004 document "Catholics in Political Life," which deals with issues surrounding a Catholic...

As anticipated, President Obama recently unveiled his proposed solution to America's educational tribulations, namely greater early childhood intervention, merit pay for teachers, more charters and national standards. Though this smorgasbord differs in details from his predecessor's No Child Left Behind, it is actually a quite similar restaurant-like order from the identical menu. And just as eateries typically have a common theme, e.g., Italian, so does this education carte du jour: Regardless of what is selected, learning is never the student's responsibility. Like a patient undergoing brain surgery, today's student lies passively while experts labor to insert knowledge, and to continue...

NEW YORK: Four Indian students, including three girls, were killed and another was injured when an off-duty and apparently drunk policewoman crashed her car into their vehicle on a highway in Missouri. The five, all hailing from Andhra Pradesh and studying for their MS degrees in information technology in Eastern Illinois University, were returning home on a Honda Accord when the policewoman's SUV, speeding on the wrong lane, hit them head-on in Des Peres, authorities said. Four of the students — Anusha Anumolu (23), Satya S Chinta (25), Anita Lakshmi (23) and Priya Muppvarapu (23) — died on the spot...

The United States’ best ally in the war against radical Islam is the one that the State Department either refuses to see or chooses to ignore: the people of Iran. Anti-mullah sentiment is widespread in the country, particularly among the women and the youth, who courageously stand up to the regime that can beat, jail, and torture them without fear of reprisal or punishment from the international community. Yet, even when facing the personification of evil, the Iranian people stand strong and are in search of allies in the West to broadcast their message. The recent events at Amir Kabir...

The Canadian Federation of Jewish Students warned Thursday about the growth of violence and threats against Jews who overtly support Israel or who are wearing clothing that identifies them as Jews. “Such dangerous including swarming, confinement, verbal and physical abuse poses threats not only to Jewish students but also to the fabric of civil discourse that Canadians proudly cherish,” said CFJS chair of Israel Affairs, Noah Kochman, at a Toronto press conference. Tensions between Jewish and Palestinian groups have become increasingly fraught since hostilities between Israel and Hamas-led Gaza escalated last month

The case against the millennial generation: exhibit # N87960 By Afghan WhigI was going to write about something else tonight, but this is too good to ignore. Via Hot Air (warning: strong language): a video of the recent New York University "Kimmel occupation" being calmly dispersed. If you don't feel like watching the entire thing, (the narrator's a bit much to take), jump to the temper tantrum at 5:36. videoThe story is a that a group of mostly New York University students forcibly occupied the school cafeteria for three days. During their sleepover, they produced a bizarre list of demands,...

A Dobson High School Advanced Placement government class with strong opinions about Barack Obama watched the president's speech Wednesday on a small, grainy TV in the corner of their classroom. Principal, student talk hoops with Obama Obama lays out plan amid hundreds at Dobson Some of the students attentively watched the speech, giving questioning looks and comments, shaking their heads and laughing at some of Obama's words. Other students listened, occasionally glancing up to watch, while texting on their cell phones, reading a book or finishing school work. The gymnasium's events were shown simultaneously in rooms throughout the Mesa school,...

A Dobson High School Advanced Placement government class with strong opinions about Barack Obama watched the president's speech Wednesday on a small, grainy TV in the corner of their classroom. Some of the students attentively watched the speech, giving questioning looks and comments, shaking their heads and laughing at some of Obama's words. Other students listened, occasion ally glancing up to watch, while texting on their cell phones, reading a book or finishing school work. The gymnasium's events were shown simultaneously in rooms throughout the Mesa school, and teachers were given discretion on whether to show the speech, the students...

“I don’t know, I’m waiting for you to tell me how I feel.” (Reese stops thinking and becomes the world’s happiest tool) Reese Joins the Army “Malcolm in the Middle” On EdNews.org, a Mr. John Galt recently posted a response to my commentary, Three Good Reasons to Become a Teacher: June, July and August. “I became a teacher because I wanted to know I would be secure in retirement. I also happened to like working with kids.” I found his comment more than slightly disturbing because one would hope that a person would enter the teaching profession based on a...

As reported at Socialist Worker.org, a Communist website: Socialistworker.org February 9, 2009 STUDENTS AT the University of Rochester (UR) and their supporters from the community occupied a campus building February 6 in solidarity with the victims of Israel's siege of Gaza--and in a matter of half a day declared victory after winning important concessions from the administration. The university agreed to a public forum to discuss UR's financial policies, and its investments in Israel and companies that do business in Israel. It also promised support for a campus-wide fund drive for Palestine, donations to Gaza of surplus supplies, and international...

“64 percent of all students engage in one of three of the most serious cheating behaviors — copying from another student's work, using cheat notes or helping someone else cheat.” I wonder how many people find the above statistic the least bit surprising. More importantly, I’m curious as to how it has come to this? Why do students cheat in such large numbers? I would guess that a substantial portion of these cheaters use “pre-conventional” thinking skills. According to Kohlberg’s Moral Stages of Development, cheaters see morality as something external to themselves, as something that people say they must do...

FORT BELVOIR, Va., Feb. 5, 2009 – The Defense Logistics Agency hired 91 college students with disabilities under the federal government’s Workforce Recruitment Program in 2008, more than any other federal agency. The jointly sponsored Defense and Labor department program matches students with disabilities with internships at government agencies or private-sector companies. Since it started in 1995, about 4,500 students have participated, and more than 350 of them have been interns at DLA, officials said. The Army hired the most WRP interns from 2004 to 2007, Famia Magana, director of DLA’s Equal Employment Office, said. With 86 hires in...

A bill proposing to grant in-state tuition to all Colorado high school students, including illegal-immigrants, was introduced Friday by Sen. Chris Romer. "For us to be an economic success, we need to make sure all these kids can get into college," said Romer, D-Denver. "And right now a small number of students can't go to college because their immigration status." "I firmly believe we shouldn't punish children for the decisions of adults," Romer said... Romer's argument may be more likely to succeed in these trying economic times. In fact, he's already touting support from Republican businessmen around the state, including...

In a letter recently submitted to Education Week CITATION Ste09 \l 1033 (Stephen Krashen, 2009) Stephen Krashen, Professor Emeritus, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California, draws attention to the Reading First final impact study which showed that children following an intensive decoding-based curriculum do well on tests of decoding but not on measures of reading comprehension when compared with regular students. He reminds readers that the National Reading Panel, the foundation for Reading First, came up with similar results. From these two studies, Dr. Krashen draws the following conclusion. A high level of proficiency in decoding is not...

Back in the day, a good report card earned you a parental pat on the back, but now it could be money in your pocket. Experiments with cash incentives for students have been catching on in public-school districts across the country, and so has the debate over whether they are a brilliant tool for hard-to-motivate students or bribery that will destroy any chance of fostering a love of learning. Either way, a rigorous new study — one of relatively few on such pay-for-performance programs — found that the programs get results: cash incentives help low-income students stay in school and...

How low will they go?? As low as laser blinding Greek Police: "A riot policeman is aimed at with a laser light pointer during riots outside the Athens Polytechnic. Small bands of Greek rioters hurling firebombs attacked an environment ministry building, shops and banks in Athens on Saturday during an eighth day of protests following the killing of a teenager by police." And that's not all: "A warning from Serb intelligence about the mobilization of an extremist Islamic organization in Greece has put the Greek authorities on high alert. Several days ago, Serb intelligence briefed a Serb parliamentary Committee that...

COB ADDER, Iraq – Soldiers from the 3rd Sustainment Command’s 7th and 287th Sustainment Brigades worked side by side as they hosted Operation Voice of Hope Dec. 11 on Contingency Operating Base Adder. Members of the Muthanna Provincial Reconstruction Team and the 7th Sust. Bde.’s Civil Military Operation’s group worked together to host Iraqi girls from the Al-Amal School for the Deaf and assist them by diagnosing hearing impairments. Lt. Col. Allan White, 287th Sust. Bde., medical operations officer and audiologist conducted the tests using a standard audiometer.My goal today is to see what these children’s needs are,” said White....

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Mid-school students shoving toward a skydiver who landed at their school trampled nearly two dozen classmates sending three to the hospital Thursday afternoon. What was supposed to be a fun experiment at LBJ Middle School suddenly became frightening. The students were outside waiting for a skydiver to jump out of a plane and lined up around the field. Minutes after the skydiver landed safely, the kids surrounded him and a News 13 photojournalist. Youthful enthusiasm quickly turned to pushing and shoving. Students fell and were trampled by their peers. Security and school staff step in to try...

Iranian students from major cities such as Tehran, Shiraz, and Hamedan protested against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This time they protested in great numbers about imprisonment and torture of students, expulsion of lecturers, poverty, abuse of human rights, dictatorship, and looting of their country’s wealth by foreign powers such as China and Russia. The demonstrations this year were bigger and more violent. The Iranian government was aware and worried. So much so that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei canceled an appearance with the students. Until recently, the government had used the anti-Western sentiments of the original demonstration in 1953 to serve...

Is former Weather Underground terrorist Jeff Jones claiming that Barack Obama's "centrist" appointments are a "smokescreen" and that he is pursuing a strategy of governing that would "make Lenin proud?" That shocking information is being reported by many different conservative blogs and Internet sites as proof that the President-elect is pursuing a political strategy designed to confuse people about his revolutionary agenda. Obama may be a Marxist attempting to fool people, but the "Jeff Jones" post on the Rag Blog website doesn't necessarily prove it. It turns out that the "Jeff Jones" claiming Obama to be a disciple of Lenin...

TEHRAN: Iranian students held a protest Sunday at Tehran University calling for freedom and denouncing the policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a pro-reform student group said. The protest amid heavy security was organized by the radical pro-reform Office to Consolidate Unity (OCU) student group to mark National Student Day. "There was tough control, they [authorities] would not let anyone in but students broke the gate and came in," OCU member Mehdi Arabshahi told AFP. "A lot of protests were directed at Ahmadinejad over oppression in universities and the bad economy," he added. "The protesters also demanded academic freedom and respect...

TEHRAN,Iran: Iran's official news agency reports that students at Tehran University damaged public property during a protest. The report, a rare admission by the agency of anti-government activities by students, referred to them as a "militia."

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Chancellor G. David Gearhart has decided to allow 19 illegal aliens who illegally enrolled into the University, and paid in-state tuition, to continue receiving an education from the university. U of A was among several Arkansas campuses that did not require prospective students to provide Social Security numbers and that didn’t ask if they were legal residents of the United States, either for purposes of admission or eligibility for in-state tuition. This means there could be hundreds of illegal aliens that have been educated at the expense of the Arkansas taxpayer instead of US citizens...

NEW YORK -- In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high-school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to a new large-scale survey suggesting that Americans are apathetic about ethical standards. Educators reacting to the findings questioned any suggestion that today's young people are less honest than past generations, but several agreed that rising pressures are prompting many students to cut corners. "The competition is greater, the pressures on kids have increased dramatically," said Mel Riddle of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "They have opportunities their predecessors didn't have...

In the months leading up to the 2008 election, as it became painfully clear that America was preparing to elect the most unqualified Commander-in-Chief ever to seek the Oval Office, I jokingly pondered how many current members of congress could pass a basic civics test. Then 52% of Americans cast their ballot for a man who has done absolutely nothing to qualify himself for the highest office in the land and America's mass ignorance was coming into focus. Two weeks after the election, we now have more valuable insight into the intelligence of the average American and it seems to...

In a statement, the Zionist Freedom Alliance said “we call on state officials, the President of the University of California, the Chancellor, the Dean of Students, faculty, and the student body to take a unified stand against the continued harassment of Jewish and pro-Israel students on this campus" Arab students disrupted a pro-Israel event at the campus of the University of California at Berkeley Thursday night, unfurling a large Palestinian flag in front of a crowd of hundreds of supporters of Israel who were enjoying a pro-Israel hip-hop concert. The event was sponsored by the Zionist Freedom Alliance student group....

Two men on a motorcycle used water pistols to spray acid on girls walking to school Wednesday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, blinding at least two of them, military spokesmen said. U.S. Col. Greg Julian said Afghanistan's National Military Command Center told him that four girls were hurt in the incident. Two were blinded and remain hospitalized, and two were treated and released, he said. The men escaped after the attack, and no one claimed responsibility for it, but Arab-language network Al-Jazeera said Taliban militants were suspected to be responsible. The incident occurred about 8 a.m. near Mirwais...

"Kids advise Obama. School children across the country write to the president-elect with advice on what problems to tackle first."

A suicide bomber Monday struck a crowd rushing to help schoolgirls trapped in a bus by an earlier bombing. The Interior Ministry said at least 31 people were killed — the deadliest in a string of blasts that raise doubts about Iraqi security forces as the U.S. prepares to reduce troops. The ministry said another 71 people were wounded in the twin blasts, the deadliest attack in Baghdad in six weeks. A third bomb exploded about 130 yards from the scene in the mostly Shiite Kasrah section of north Baghdad but caused no casualties, police said. No group claimed responsibility...

I don't won't to spread my wealth around to someone without a brain. I also think it a good object lesson of stealing or spreading the wealth around socialism. Also, Hope you can pay for gas in your car, insurance, books, room and board, etc. I think if parents who are not supporting Obama put their foot down it could have a big impact.

ACADEMIC ADVANCES Forty years ago, when the data series analyzed here began, just three in ten college freshmen had fathers who had a college education. Now, a majority do. Young college students today have higher education goals than their predecessors did a generation ago. The changes have been particularly dramatic for young women, with a fivefold increase in the number who plan to become doctors, and a threefold increase in the number who plan to get a Ph.D. OBJECTIVES AND IDEOLOGY Over the past 40 years, college freshmen have changed their views about some objectives that will be essential or...

Some teachers are used to confiscating toys or other disruptive items kids bring from home. But marijuana? A teacher at Harrington Avery D School, at 53rd Street and Baltimore Avenue, did just that yesterday when one of her second-grade students brought a bag of marijuana to school and showed it off to his friends, police said. One alert classmate notified the teacher and the authorities were called, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives. Police searched the home of the child's father, Lamar Anderson, 28, of 54th Street near Warrington Avenue, Southwest Philadelphia, and confiscated more marijuana and crack cocaine,...

The University of Mary Washington is scheduled to hold a rally with both Obama and Joe Biden at their historic Fredericksburg, Virginia campus on Saturday, September 27, at 5:15 PM. The university's bookstore is selling 1,000 Obama / Biden t-shirts at their bookstore starting today (Friday). T-shirts have the university's logo on the front and has the words " Obama was there, Biden was there, I was there, UMW 08 " on the back. Cost: $9.99. Profits from the t-shirts go to the university's bookstore. The idea for the campaign slogan t-shirt came from the university's bookstore manager, Kathy Underwood,...

Parents Curse Behavioral LessonWednesday, September 24, 2008 | 12:42 AM By Corin Hoggard Fresno, CA, USA (KFSN) -- A lesson in profanity at one Fresno middle school has created controversy and upset parents. Instead of math and English, the 12- and 13- and 14-year-olds at Tioga middle school learned about words that might make some adults blush. During the first week of school, the kids got a lesson on words they shouldn't use, including terms for oral sex and prostitution. The teachers and kids were focused on behavioral expectations instead of the normal subjects, but some parents say the way...

A youthful attempt to party their way to popularity and some exaggerated MySpace boasting have turned into a $320,000 tax nightmare for five current and former University of Central Oklahoma students. “This is crazy,” said Julius Baroi, co-founder of Kegheadz, a loosely organized Edmond-based party business. “The Tax Commission claims we owe more than $300,000. We don't have enough money between us to pay $6,000 to hire an attorney. They won't listen to us.” Paula Ross, spokesperson for the Oklahoma Tax Commission, said she couldn't comment on an individual taxpayer's case. Although the Tax Commission wants to tax Kegheadz like...

Karalyn O’Brien of Mendon didn’t think she’d ever be able to study law with a U.S. Supreme Court justice, nor did Pamela Tankle of Dorchester. But this past summer, the two students from the New England Law Boston, formerly known as the New England School of Law, did just that. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia taught a course through the school at a satellite location in Galway, Ireland, titled Separation of Powers. The course examined some of the principle decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court dealing with that topic, including cases pertaining to appointment and removal of executive officers, delegation...

Now that the subject of presidential campaign is significant and almost in every gathering and discussion the subject comes up, I find myself a little indifferent. First, I am not an American citizen, and I have far more important worries such as surviving my classes and my immigrant life after all those loans I've taken from family members, friends and the university. Second, I am beginning to lose all hope and start to believe that once again Americans are going to elect someone who is less concerned about public health, education, economy or peace and human rights. It wasn't until...

Adrianna Gomez wakes her 14-year-old son before dawn every morning, lays out his coat and tie and drives him across an international boundary just to go to school. With a full day of classes at Pharr's Oratory Academy followed by soccer and tennis afterward, he often won't return to his spacious Reynosa home until nearly 12 hours later. Angelita Martinez Morales also hoped her children could attend Rio Grande Valley schools. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested her Aug. 10 as she guided them across the river near Pharr. She later told a federal magistrate judge she had to get her...

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Hundreds of Christian theology students have been living in tents since a mob of angry Muslim neighbors stormed their campus last month wielding bamboo spears and hurling Molotov cocktails.

Bruce Watson, freelance blogger writes: When I was a student, there were many semesters when I spent less on food than on school books. I learned, from experience, that starvation is sometimes better than the 50th serving of lentils in a row, that there are only so many ways that ramen can be prepared, that $20 worth of raw materials can translate into a month's worth of hummus, and that sugar packets "liberated" from the local Burger King can be used to make Kool-aid, yielding a refreshing, almost free source of Vitamin C. I had always considered myself an expert...

A chapter of a national gun advocacy group that supports allowing students to carry weapons to class may open at Florida Atlantic University this fall. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus was created after the April 2007 shootings on the Virginia Tech University campus in Blacksburg, Va., where 32 people and gunman Cho Seung-Hui died. About the organization Students for Concealed Carry on Campus promotes its cause with several initiatives, including the 'empty holster protest,' where students, faculty and staff who support allowing guns on campus wear holsters to school. Group leaders said 3,800 students nationwide participated in April's event....

WASHINGTON -- Students for Concealed Carry on Campus held its first national meeting last friday. The group hopes to convince state legislatures to allow guns onto college campuses. Meanwhile, another group, Students for Gun Free Schools, founded in opposition to SCCC, is working to make sure this doesn't happen. Elilta Habtu joined Students for Gun Free Schools this spring. She was shot twice in the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech. The shooting has led her to become an activist for gun control. "The answer is not to arm yourself," she said. "It's better to prevent tragedies like that from occuring......

Two Americans and two British nationals have been ordered to leave China “within a prescribed time limit” after displaying “Free Tibet” banners near an Olympic venue in Beijing on Wednesday, local police said. Two are expected to leave on Wednesday night and the other two on Thursday. “They disrupted public order and violated Chinese laws. Their period of stay in the country will hereby be cut short according to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens,” the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said in a statement issued late on Wednesday....

Students Wearing Ties Risk Not Graduating August 04, 2008 Adnkronos International ­ AKI Tehran -- Thirty-two students who showed up to their graduation ceremony with a tie run the risk of not graduating at all. For some in Iran, the tie is considered an extreme form of western cultural contamination. Thus in many cases, wearing a tie is thought to be a form of silent resistance against the forced Islamisation of society. The students, all medicine students at the University of Shirazi, were approached by university security staff as they entered the room where they would receive their diploma and...

(IsraelNN.com) The American State Department has refused visas to three of seven Gaza students who were given clearance by Israel after American pressure to give them a clearance to leave Gaza to study under a Fulbright scholarship in the United States. The American consulate in Jerusalem cited unspecified security concerns as reasons for denying visas to the three students. American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice originally insisted that Israel allow the students to leave Gaza, and four of them were granted visas by the U.S. The Americans balked at the Israeli warning that the other three were security risks and...

A federal court has ordered the state of Colorado to stop discriminating against students of a Christian college, a facility that state officials determined provided too much religion. The state for years has provided grants to students of secular institutions as well as students at a Methodist university and a Roman Catholic university, according to yesterday's opinion from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. However, students at Colorado Christian University, a non-denominational evangelical Protestant university, were banned from the grant program after state officials decided the school was too pervasively sectarian. "We find the exclusion unconstitutional for two reasons:...

(IsraelNN.com) The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israeli police have arrested and charged six Israeli-Arabs, among them Hebrew University students, for planning an Al-Qaeda attack on a senior US official. The group, including four residents of eastern Jerusalem, are suspected of operating an al-Qaeda cell in Israel's capital and planning to shoot down a helicopter carrying a senior US official. The six suspects were identified by police as: Ibrahim Nashef, 22, of Tayibe: Physics and computer sciences student at the Hebrew University; Muhammad Najem, 24, of Nazareth: Chemistry student at the Hebrew University; Anas Shawiki, 21, of the Jerusalem...

Maryland can't find any kids to eat free SCHOOL lunches during the SUMMER. One genius said, "We would go into alleys and hand out fliers about the program." Maybe they should check the dumpsters, landfills, and junkyards too. Or maybe the kids are just eating lunch at home. Undaunted, liberals will keep trying like hell to throw our money away.

The Netherlands will ban Iranian students from studying nuclear technology, a source of tension between Iran and world powers, at its universities, the government said Friday. "It is forbidden... to grant Iranian nationals access to special training or teaching that could contribute to nuclear proliferation activities in Iran and the development of systems for transmitting nuclear arms," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Some powers including the United States suspect Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed at producing energy to serve a growing population. Friday's measure adds to a Dutch...